/.  /el.i5~. 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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Division 


DS7Z5 

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THE  CHINESE 
BOY  AND  GIRL 


CHINESE  BROWNIES  AT  PLAY 


The  Chinese 
Boy  and  Girl 


BY 

ISAAC  TAYLOR  HEADLAND 

OF  PEKING  UNIVERSITY  ' 

Author  of  Chinese  Mother  Goose  Rhymes 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 


Copyright,  1901  by 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

(September) 


PREFACE 


No  thorough  study  of  Chinese  child  life  can  be  made  until 
the  wall  of  Chinese  exclusiveness  is  broken  down  and  the 
homes  of  the  East  are  thrown  open  to  the  people  of  the 
West.  Glimpses  of  that  life  however,  are  available,  suffi- 
cient in  number  and  character  to  give  a fairly  good  idea  of 
what  it  must  be.  The  playground  is  by  no  means  always 
hidden,  least  of  all  when  it  is  the  street.  The  Chinese 
nurse  brings  her  Chinese  rhymes,  stories  and  games  into 
the  foreigner’s  home  for  the  amusement  of  its  little  ones. 
Chinese  kindergarten  methods  and  appliances  have  no 
superior  in  their  ingenuity  and  their  ability  to  interest,  as 
well  as  instruct.  In  the  matter  of  travelling  shows  and 
jugglers  also,  no  country  is  better  supplied,  and  these  are 
chiefly  for  the  entertainment  of  the  little  ones. 

To  the  careful  observer  of  these  different  phases  it 
becomes  apparent  that  the  Chinese  child  is  well  supplied 
with  methods  of  exercise  and  amusement,  also  that  he  has 
much  in  common  with  the  children  of  other  lands.  A large 
collection  of  toys  shows  many  duplicates  of  those  common 
in  the  West,  and  from  the  nursery  rhymes  of  at  least  two 
out  of  the  eighteen  provinces  it  appears  that  the  Chinese 
nursery  is  rich  in  Mother  Goose.  As  a companion  to 
the  “Chinese  Mother  Goose,”  this  book  seeks  to  show 
that  the  same  sunlight  fills  the  homes  of  both  East  and 
West.  If  it  also  leads  their  far-away  mates  to  look  upon 
the  Chinese  Boy  and  Girl  as  real  little  folk,  human  like 
themselves,  and  thus  think  more  kindly  of  them,  its  mission 
will  have  been  accomplished. 

5 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 9 

, CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 33 

GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 51 

GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS . 79 

THE  TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 97 

BLOCK  GAMES— KINDERGARTEN 115 

CHILDREN’S  SHOWS  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  . 133 

.JUVENILE  JUGGLING 147 

STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN  .......  163 


6 


“UP  YOU  GO.” 


READY  FOR  A WALK  WITH  NURSE 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 

It  is  a mistake  to  suppose  that  any  one  nation  or  people 
has  exclusive  right  to  Mother  Goose.  She  is  an  omnipres- 
ent old  lady.  She  is  Asiatic  as  well  as  European  or  Amer- 
ican. Wherever  there  are  mothers,  grandmothers,  and 
nurses  there  are  Mother  Gooses, — or,  shall  we  say,  Mother 
Geese — for  I am  at  a loss  as  to  how  to  pluralize  this  old 
dame.  She  is  in  India,  whence  I have  rhymes  from  her, 
of  which  the  following  is  a sample: 

Heh,  my  baby!  Ho,  my  baby! 

See  the  wild,  ripe  plum, 

And  if  you’d  like  to  eat  a few, 

I’ll  buy  my  baby  some. 

She  is  in  Japan.  She  has  taught  the  children  there  to  put 

their  fingers  together  as  we  do  for  “This  is  the  church, 

9 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


this  is  the  steeple,”  when  she  says: 

A barpboo  road, 

With  a floor-mat  siding, 

Children  are  quarrelling, 

And  parents  chiding, 

the  “children”  being  represented  by  the  fingers  and  the 
“parents”  by  the  thumbs.  She  is  in  China.  I have  more 
than  600  rhymes  from  her  Chinese  collection.  Let  me  tell 
you  how  I got  them. 

One  hot  day  during  my  summer  vacation,  while  sitting 

on  the  veranda  of  a house  among  the  hills,  fifteen  miles 

« 

west  of  Peking,  my  friend,  Mrs.  C.  H.  Fenn,  said  to  me: 

“ Have  you  noticed  those  rhymes,  Mr.  Headland  ?” 
“What  rhymes?”  1 inquired. 

“The  rhymes  Mrs.  Yin  is  repeating  to  Henry.” 

“ No,  I have  not  noticed  them.  Ask  her 
to  repeat  that  one  again.” 

Mrs.  Fenn  did  so,  and  the  old  nurse  re- 
peated the  following  rhyme,  very  much  in 
the  tone  of,  “ The  goblins  'll  git  you  if  you 
don't  look  out.” 

He  climbed  up  the  candlestick, 

The  little  mousey  brown, 

To  steal  and  eat  tallow, 

And  he  couldn't  get  down. 

He  called  for  his  grandma, 

But  his  grandma  was  in  town, 

So  he  doubled  up  into  a wheel, 

And  rolled  himself  down. 

10 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


I asked  the  nurse  to  repeat  it  again,  more  slowly,  and  I 
wrote  it  down  together  with  the  translation. 

Now,  I think  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  more  in 
this  rhyme  to  commend  it  to  the  public  than  there  is  in 
“Jack  and  Jill.”  If  when  that  remarkable  young  couple 
went  for  the  pail  of  water,  Master  Jack  had  carried  it  him- 
self, he  would  have  been  entitled  to  some  credit  for  gal- 
lantry, or  if  in  cracking  his  crown  he  had  fallen  so  as  to 
prevent  Miss  Jill  from  “tumbling,”  or  even  in  such  a way 
as  to  break  her  fall  and  make  it  easier  for  her,  there  would 
have  been  some  reason  for  the  popularity  of  such  a record. 
As  it  is,  there  is  no  way  to  account  for  it  except  the  fact 
that  it  is  simple  and  rhythmic  and  children  like  it.  This 
rhyme,  however,  in  the 
original,  is  equal  to  “Jack 
and  Jill”  in  rhythm  and 
rhyme,  has  as  good  a story, 
exhibits  a more  scientific 
tumble,  with  a less  tragic 
result,  and  contains  as  good 
a moral  as  that  found  in 
“Jack  Sprat.” 

It  is  as  popular  all  over 
North  China  as  “Jack  and 
Jill”  is  throughout  Great 
Britain  and  America.  Ask 
any  Chinese  child  if  he 
knows  the  “ Little  Mouse,” 
and  he  reels  it  off  to  you  as 


11 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


readily  as  an  English-speaking  child  does  “Jack  and  Jill.” 
Does  he  like  it?  It  is  a part  of  his  life.  Repeat  it  to 
him,  giving  one  word  incorrectly,  and  he  will  resent  it 
as  strenuously  as  your  little  boy  or  girl  would  if  you  said, 

Jack  and  Jill 
Went  down  the  hill 

Suppose  you  repeat  some  familiar  rhyme  to  a child  dif- 
ferently from  the  way  he  learned  it  and  see  what  the  result 
will  be. 

Having  obtained  this  rhyme,  I asked  Mrs.  Yin  if  she 
knew  any  more.  She  smiled  and  said  she  knew  “lots  of 
them.”  I induced  her  to  tell  them  to  me,  promising  her 
five  hundred  cash  (about  three  cents)  for  every  rhyme  she 
could  give  me,  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  for  I wanted  to 
secure  all  kinds.  And  I did.  Before  I was  through  I had 
rhymes  which  ranged  from  the  two  extremes  of  the  keen- 
est parental  affection  to  those  of  unrefined  filthiness.  The 
latter  class  however  came  not  from  the  nurses  but  from 
the  children  themselves. 

When  1 had  finished  with  her  I had  a dozen  or  more.  I 
soon  learned  these  so  that  I could  repeat  them  in  the  origi- 
nal, which  gave  me  an  entering  wedge  to  the  heart  of  every 
man,  woman  or  child  I met. 

One  day,  as  I rode  through  a broom-corn  field  on  the 

back  of  a little  donkey,  my  feet  almost  dragging  on  the 

ground,  I was  repeating  some  of  these  rhymes,  when  the 

driver  running  at  my  side  said: 

lx 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


“Ha,  you  know  those  children’s  songs,  do  you?” 

“ Yes,  do  you  know  any  ? ” 
“Lots  of  them,”  he  answered. 
“Lots  of  them”  is  a favorite 
expression  with  the  Chinese. 

“ Tell  me  some.” 

“ Did  you  ever  hear  this  one  ? ” 

“ Fire-fly,  fire-fly, 

Come  from  the  hill, 

Your  father  and  mother 
Are  waiting  here  still. 
They’ve  brought  you  some 
sugar, 

Some  candy  and  meat, 
Come  quick  or  I’ll  give  it 
To  baby  to  eat.” 

I at  once  dismounted  and  wrote  it  down,  and  promised 
him  five  hundred  cash  apiece  for  every  new  one  he  could 
give  me.  In  this  way,  going  to  and  from  the  city,  in  con- 
versation with  old  . nurses  or  servants,  personal  friends, 
teachers,  parents  or  children,  or  foreign  children  who  had 
been  born  in  China  and  had  learned  rhymes  from  their 
nurses,  I continued  to  gather  them  during  the  entire  vaca- 
tion, and  when  autumn  came  I had  more  than  fifty  of  the 
most  common  and  consequently  the  best  rhymes  known 
in  and  about  Peking. 

A few  months  after  I returned  to  the  city  a circular  was 
sent  around  asking  for  subscriptions  to  a volume  of  Pekin- 
ese Folklore,  published  by  Baron  Vitali,  Interpreter  at  the 

13 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Italian  legation,  which,  on  examination,  proved  to  be  exactly 
what  I wanted.  He  had  collected  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  rhymes,  had  made  a literal — not  metrical — translation, 
and  had  issued  them  in  book  form  without  expurgation. 
Others  learned  of  my  collection,  and  rhymes  began  to  come 
to  me  from  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith, 
the  well-known  author  of  “Chinese  Characteristics”  gave 
me  a collection  of  more  than  three  hundred  made  in  Shan- 
tung, among  which  were  rhymes  similar  to  those  we  had 
found  in  Peking.  Still  later  I received  other  versions  of  these 
same  rhymes  from  my  little  friend,  Miss  Chalfant,  collected 
in  a different  part  of  Shantung  from  that  occupied  by  Dr. 
Smith.  I then  had  no  fewer  than  five  versions  of 

“This  little  pig  went  to  market,” 


14 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


each  having  some  local  coloring  not  found  in  the  other, 
proving  that  the  fingers  and  toes  furnish  children  with  the 
same  entertainment  in  the  Orient  as  in  the  Occident,  and 
that  the  rhyme  is  widely  known  throughout  China. 

These  nursery  rhymes  have  never  been  printed  in  the 
Chinese  language,  but  like  our  own  Mother  Goose  before 
the  year  1719,  if  we  may  credit  the  Boston  story,  they  are 
carried  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  children.  Here  arose 
the  first  difficulty  we  experienced  in  collecting  rhymes — the 
matter  of  getting  them  complete.  Few  are  able  to  repeat 
the  whole  of  the 

“ House  that  Jack  built  ” 

although  it  has  been  printed  many  times  and  they  learned 
it  all  in  their  youth.  The  difficulty  is  multiplied  tenfold  in 
China  where  the  rhymes  have  never  been  printed,  and 
where  there  have  grown  up  various  versions  from  one 
original  which  the  nurse  had,  no  doubt,  partly  forgotten, 
but  was  compelled  to  complete  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
child. 

A second  difficulty  in  making  such  a collection  is  that  of 
getting  unobjectionable  rhymes.  While  the  Chinese  clas- 
sics are  among  the  purest  classical  books  of  the  world,  there 
is  yet  a large  proportion  of  the  people  who  sully  everything 
they  take  into  their  hands  as  well  as  every  thought  they  take 
into  their  minds.  Thus  so  many  of  their  rhymes  have  suf- 
fered. Some  have  an  undertone  of  reviling.  Some  speak 
familiarly  of  subjects  which  we  are  not  accustomed  to 

mention,  and  others  are  impure  in  the  extreme. 

15 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


A third  difficulty  in  making  a collection  of  Chinese  nursery 
lore  is  greater  than  either  the  first  or  the  second, — I refer  to 
the  difficulty  of  a metrical  rendition  of  the  rhymes.  I have 
no  doubt  my  readers  c~n  easily  find  flaws  in  my  translations 
of  Chinese  Mother  Goose  Rhymes  published  during  the  past 
year.  It  is  much  easier  for  me  to  find  the  flaws  than  the 
remedies.  Many  of  the  words  used  in  the  original  have  no 
written  character  or  hieroglyphic  to  represent  them,  while 
many  others,  though  having  a written  form,  are,  like  our 
own  slang  expressions,  not  found  in  the  dictionary. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  a more  pleasant  feature  of  this  unwrit- 
ten nursery  literature.  The  language  is  full  of  good  rhymes, 
and  all  objectionable  features  can  be  cut  out  without  injury 
to  the  rhyme,  as  it  was  not  a part  of  the  original,  but  added 
by  some  more  unscrupulous  hand. 

Among  the  nursery  rhymes  of  all  countries  many  refer  to 
insects,  birds,  animals,  persons,  actions,  trades,  food  or 
children.  In  Chinese  rhymes  we  have  the  cricket,  cicada, 
spider,  snail,  firefly,  ladybug  and  butterfly  and  others. 
Among  fowls  we  have  the  bat,  crow,  magpie,  cock,  hen, 
duck  and  goose.  Of  animals,  the  dog,  cow,  horse,  mule, 
donkey,  camel,  and  mouse,  are  the  favorites.  There  are 
also  rhymes  on  the  snake  and  frog,  and  others  without 
number  on  places,  things  and  persons, — men,  women  and 
children. 

Those  who  hold  that  the  Chinese  do  not  love  their 
children  have  never  consulted  their  nursery  lore.  There  is 
no  language  in  the  world,  I venture  to  believe,  which  con- 
tains children’s  songs  expressive  of  more  keen  and  tender 

16 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


affection  than  some  of  those  sung  to  children  in  China. 
When  we  hear  a parent  say  that  his  child 

“ Is  as  sweet  as  sugar  and  cinnamon  too,” 

or  that 

“ Baby  is  a sweet  pill, 

That  fills  my  soul  with  joy  ” 

or  when  we  see  a father,  mother  or 
nurse — for  nurses  sometimes  become 
almost  as  fond  of  their  little  charge  as 
the  parents  themselves, — hugging  the 
child  to  their  bosoms  as  they  say  that 
he  is  so  sweet  that  “he  makes  you 
love  him  till  it  kills  you,”  we  begin  to 
appreciate  the  affection  that  prompts 
the  utterance. 

Another  feature  of  these  rhymes  is 
the  same  as  that  found  in  the  nursery 
songs  of  all  nations,  namely,  the  food 
element.  “Jack  Sprat,”  “ Little  Jacky 
Horner,”  “Four  and  Twenty  Black- 
birds,” “When  Good  King  Arthur 
Ruled  the  Land,”  and  a host  of  others  will  indicate  what  I 
mean.  A little  child  is  a highly  developed  stomach,  and 
anything  which  tells  about  something  that  ministers  to  the 
appetite  and  tends  to  satisfy  that  aching  void,  commends 

itself  to  his  literary  taste,  and  hence  the  popularity  of  many 

17 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


of  our  nursery  rhymes,  the  only  thought  of  which  is  about 
something  good  to  eat.  Notice  the  following: 

Look  at  the  white  breasted  crows  overhead. 

My  father  shot  once  and  ten  crows  tumbled  dead. 
When  boiled  or  when  fried  they  taste  very  good, 

But  skin  them,  I tell  you,  there’s  no  better  food. 

In  imagination  I 
can  see  the  reader 
raise  his  eyebrows 
and  mutter,  “Do 
the  Chinese  eat 
crows?”  while  at 
the  same  time  he 
has  been  singing 
all  his  life  about 
what  a “dainty 
dish”  “four  and 
twenty  blackbirds  ” 
would  make  for  the 
“king,”  without 
ever  raising  the 
question  as  to 
whether  blackbirds 

are  good  eating  or  not. 

We  note  another  feature  of  all  nursery  rhymes  in  the  ad- 
ditions made  by  the  various  persons  through  whose  hands, 

— or  should  we  say,  through  whose  mouths  they  pass. 

18 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


When  an  American  or  English  child  hears  how  a certain 
-benevolent  dame  found  no  bone  in  her  cupboard  to  satisfy 
the  cravings  of  her  hungry  dog,  its  feelings  of  compassion 
are  stirred  up  to  ask:  “And  then  what?  Didn’t  she  get 

any  meat?  Did  the  dog  die?”  and  the  nurse  is  compelled 
to  make  another  verse  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  child 
and  bring  both  the  dame  and  the  dog  out  of  the  dilemma  in 
which  they  have  been  left.  This  is  what  happened  in  the 
case  of  “Old  Mother  Hubbard  ” as  will  readily  be  seen  by 
examining  the  meter  of  the  various  verses.  The  original 
“ Mother  Hubbard  ” consisted  of  nothing  more  than  the  first 
six  lines  which  contain  three  rhymes.  All  the  other  verses 
have  but  four  lines  and  one  rhyme. 

We  find  the  same 


thing  in  Chinese 
Mother  Goose. 
Take  the  following 
as  an  example: 


He  ate  too  much, 
That  second 
brother, 

And  when  he  had 
eaten 

He  beat  his 
mother. 


19 


This  was  the  origi- 
nal rhyme.  Two 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


verses  have  been  added  without  rhyme,  reason,  rhythm, 
sense  or  good  taste.  They  are  as  follows: 

His  mother  jumped  up  on  the  window-sill, 

But  the  window  had  no  crack, 

She  then  looked  into  the  looking-glass, 

But  the  mirror  had  no  back. 

Then  all  at  once  she  began  to  sing, 

But  the  song  it  had  no  end 
And  then  she  played  the  monkey  trick 
And  to  heaven  she  did  ascend. 

The  moral  teachings  of  nursery  rhymes  are  as  varied  as 
the  morals  of  the  people  to  whom  the  rhymes  belong.  The 
“Little  Mouse”  already  given  contains  both  a warning  and 
a penalty.  The  mouse  which  had  climbed  up  the  candle- 
stick to  steal  tallow  was  unable  to  get  down.  This  was 
the  penalty  for  stealing,  and  indicates  to  children  that  if  * 
they  visit  the  cupboard  in  their  mother’s  absence  and  take 
her  sweetmeats  without  her  permission,  they  may  suffer  as 
the  mouse  did.  To  leave  the  mouse  there  after  he  had  re- 
peatedly called  for  that  halo-crowned  grandmother,  who 
refused  to  come,  would  have  been  too  much  for  the  child’s 
sympathies,  and  so  the  mouse  doubles  himself  up  into  a 
wheel,  and  rolls  to  the  floor. 

In  other  rhymes,  children  are  warned  against  stealing,  but 
the  penalty  threatened  is  rather  an  indication  of  the  untruth- 
fulness of  the  parent  or  nurse  than  a promise  of  reform  in 

the  child,  for  they  are  told  that, 

20 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


If  you  steal  a needle 

Or  steal  a thread, 

A pimple  will  grow 

Upon  your  head. 


If  you  steal  a dog 

Or  steal  a cat, 

A pimple  will  grow 

Beneath  your  hat. 


Boys  are  warned  of  the  dire  consequences  if  they  wear 
their  hats  on  the  side  of  their  heads  or  go  about  with  ragged 
coats  or  slipshod  feet. 


If  you  wear  your  hat  on  the  side  of  your  head, 
You’ll  have  a lazy  wife,  ’tis  said. 

If  a ragged  coat  or  slipshod  feet, 

You’ll  have  a wife  who  loves  to  eat. 


Those  rhymes  which  manifest  the  affection  of  parents  for 
children  cultivate  a like  affection  in  the  child.  We  have  in 
the  Chinese  Mother  Goose  a rhyme  called  the  Little  Orphan, 
which  is  a most  pathetic  tale.  A little  boy  tells  us  that, 


Like  a little  withered  flower, 

That  is  dying  in  the  earth, 

I was  left  alone  at  seven 

By  her  who  gave  me  birth. 
21 


/ 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


With  my  papa  I was  happy 
But  I feared  he’d  take  another, 
But  now  my  papa’s  married, 
And  I have  a little  brother. 

And  he  eats  good  food, 

While  I eat  poor, 

And  cry  for  my  mother, 

Whom  I'll  see  no  more. 


Such  a rhyme  cannot  but  develop  the  pathetic  and  sympa- 
thetic instincts  of  the  child,  making  it  more  kind  and  gentle 
to  those  in  distress. 

A girl  in  one  of  the  rhymes  urged  by  instinct  and  desire  to 
chase  a butterfly,  gives  up  the  idea  of  catching  it,  presuma- 
bly out  of  a feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  insect. 

22 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


Unfortunately  all  their 
rhymes  do  not  have  this  same 
high  moral  tone.  They  indicate 
a total  lack  of  respect  for  the 
Buddhist  priests.  This  is  not 
necessarily  against  the  rhyme 
any  more  than  against  the 
priest,  but  it  is  an  unfortunate 
disposition  to  cultivate  in 
children.  There  are  constant 
sallies  at  the  shaved  noddle 
of  the  priest.  They  speak  of 
his  head  as  a gourd,  and  they 
class  him  with  the  tiger  as  a 
beast  of  prey. 

Some  of  the  rhymes  illus- 
trate the  disposition  of  the 
Chinese  to  nickname  every 
one,  from  the  highest  official  in 
the  empire  to  the  meanest  beg- 
gar on  the  street.  One  of  the  great  men  of  the  present  dyn- 
asty, a prime  minister  and  intimate  friend  of  the  emperor, 
goes  by  the  name  of  Humpbacked  Liu.  Another  may  be 
Cross-eyed  Wang,  another  Club-footed  Chang,  another 
Bald-headed  Li.  Any  physical  deformity  or  mental  pecu- 
liarity may  give  him  his  nickname.  Even  foreigners  suffer 
in  reputation  from  this  national  bad  habit. 

A man  whose  face  is  covered  with  pockmarks  is  ridi- 
culed by  children  in  the  following  rhyme,  which  is  only  a 

23 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


sample  of  what  might  be  produced  on  a score  of  other  sub- 
jects: 

Old  pockmarked  Ma, 

He  climbed  up  a tree, 

A dog  barked  at  him, 

And  a man  caught  his  knee, 

Which  scared  old  Poxey 
Until  he  couldn’t  see. 

A well-known  characteristic  of  the  Chinese  is  to  do  things 
opposite  to  the  way  in  which  we  do  them.  We  accuse 
them  of  doing  things  backwards,  but  it  is  we  who  deserve 
such  blame  because  they  antedated  us  in  the  doing  of  them. 
We  shake  each  other’s  hands,  they  each  shake  their  own 
hands.  We  take  off  our  hats  as  a mark  of  respect,  they 
keep  theirs  on.  We  wear  black  for  mourning,  they  wear 
white.  We  wear  our  vests  inside,  they  wear  theirs  outside. 
A hundred  other  things  more  or  less  familiar  to  us  all,  illus- 
trate this  rule.  In  some  of  their  nursery  rhymes  every- 
thing is  said  and  done  on  the  “ cart  before  the  horse  ” plan. 
This  is  illustrated  by  a rhyme  in  which  when  the  speaker 
heard  a disturbance  outside  his  door  he  discovered  it  was 
because  a “dog  had  been  bitten  by  a man.”  Of  course, 
he  at  once  rushed  to  the  rescue.  He  “took  up  the  door 
and  he  opened  his  hand.”  He  “snatched  up  the  dog  and 
threw  him  at  a brick.”  The  brick  bit  his  hand  and  he  left 
the  scene  “ beating  on  a horn  and  blowing  on  a drum.” 
Tongue  twisters  are  as  common  in  Chinese  as  in  English, 

and  are  equally  appreciated  by  the  children.  From  the  na- 

24 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


ture  of  such  rhymes,  however,  it  is  impossible  to  translate 
them  into  any  other  language. 

In  one  of  these  children’s  songs,  a cake-seller  informs  the 
public  in  stentorian  tones  that  his  wares  will  restore  sight  to 
the  blind  and  that 


They  cure  the  deaf  and  heal  the  lame, 
And  preserve  the  teeth  of  the  aged  dame. 


They  will  further  cause  hair  to  grow  on  a bald  head  and 
give  courage  to  a henpecked  husband.  A girl  who  has  been 
whipped  by  her  mother  mutters  to  herself  how  she  would 
love  and  serve  a husband  if  she  only  had  one,  even  going  to 
the  extent  of  calling  that  much-despised  mother-in-law  her 
mother,  and  when  overheard  by  her  irate  parent  and  asked 
what  she  was  saying,  she  answers: 


I was  saying  the  beans  are  boiling  nice 
And  it’s  just  about  time  to  add  the  rice. 


These  are  rather  an  indication  of  good  cheer  on  the  part 
of  the  children  than  lack  of  filial  affection.  A parent  must 
be  cruel  indeed  to  make  a girl  willing  to  give  up  her  mother 
for  a mother-in-law. 

Another  style  of  verses  comes  under  the  head  of  pure  non- 
sense rhymes.  They  are  wholly  without  sense  and  I am 

not  sure  they  are  good  nonsense.  They  are  popular,  how- 

25 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


ever,  with  the  children,  and  critics  may  say  what  they  will, 
but  the  children  are  the  last  court  of  appeal  in  case  of  nursery 
rhymes.  Let  me  give  one: 

There’s  a cow  on  the  mountain,  the  old  saying  goes, 

On  her  legs  are  four  feet,  on  her  feet  are  eight  toes. 

Her  tail  is  behind  on  the  end  of  her  back, 

And  her  head  is  in  front  on  the  end  of  her  neck. 


The  Chinese  nursery  is  well  provided  with  rhymes  per- 
taining to  certain  portions  of  the  body.  They  have  rhymes 
to  repeat  when  they  play  with  the  five  fingers,  and  others 
when  they  pull  the  toes;  rhymes  when  they  take  hold  of 
the  knee  and  expect  the  child  to  refrain  from  laughing,  no 
matter  how  much  its  knee  is  tickled;  rhymes  which  cor- 
respond to  all  our  face  and  sense;  rhymes  where  the  fore- 
head represents  the  door  and  the  five  senses  various  other 

things,  ending,  of  course,  by  tickling  the  child’s  neck. 

26 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


All  of  these  have  called  forth  rhymes  among  Chinese 
children  similar  to  “ little  pig  went  to  market,”  “forehead 
bender,  eye  winker,”  etc.  The  parent,  or  the  nurse,  taking 
hold  of  the  toes  of  the  child,  repeats  the  following  rhyme, 
as  much  to  the  amusement  of  the  little  Oriental  as  the 
“little  pig”  has  always  been  to  our  own  children: 

This  little  cow  eats  grass, 

This  little  cow  eats  hay, 

This  little  cow  drinks  water, 

This  little  cow  runs  away, 

This  little  cow  does  nothing, 

Except  lie  down  all  day. 

We’ll  whip  her. 

And,  with  that,  she  playfully  pats  the  little  bare  foot. 

If  it  is  the  hand  that  is  played  with  the  fingers  are  taken 

hold  of  one  after 
another,  as  the 
parent,  or  nurse, 
repeats  the  follow- 
ing rhyme: 

This  one’s  old, 

This  one’s  young, 
This  one  has  no 
meat; 

This  one’s  gone 
To  buy  some  hay, 
And  this  one’s  on 
the  street. 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


There  are  various  forms  of  this  rhyme,  depending  upon 
the  place  where  it  is  found.  The  above  is  the  Shantung 
version.  In  Peking  it  is  as  follows: 


successively,  as  she  repeats: 


A great,  big  brother, 
And  a little  brother, 
too, 

A big  bell  tower, 
And  a temple  and  a 
show, 

And  little  baby 
wee,  wee, 
Always  wants  to 

go- 


The  following 
rhyme  explains  it- 
self : The  nurse 

knocks  on  the  fore- 
head, then  touches 
the  eye,  nose,  ear, 
mouth  and  chin 


Knock  at  the  door, 

See  a face, 

Smell  an  odor, 

Hear  a voice, 

Eat  your  dinner, 

Pull  your  chin,  or 
Ke  chih,  ke  chih. 


Tickling  the  child’s  neck  with  the  last  two  expressions. 

28 


THE  NURSERY  AND  ITS  RHYMES 


We  have  in  English  a rhyme: 

If  you  be  a gentleman, 

As  I suppose  you  be, 

You’ll  neither  laugh  nor  smile 
With  a tickling  of  your  knee. 

I had  tried  many  months  to  find  if  there  were  any  finger, 
face  or  body  games  other  than  those  already  given.  Our 
own  nurse  insisted  that  she  knew  of  none,  but  one  day  I 
noticed  her  grabbing  my  little  girl’s  knee,  while  she  was 
saying: 

One  grab  silver, 

Two  grabs  gold, 

Three  don’t  laugh, 

And  you’ll  grow  old. 

There  is  no  literature  in  China,  not  even  in  the  sacred 
books,  which  is  so  generally  known  as  their  nursery 
rhymes.  These  are  understood  and  repeated  by  the  edu- 
cated and  the  illiterate  alike;  by  the  children  of  princes  and 
the  children  of  beggars;  children  in  the  city  and  children  in 
the  country  and  villages,  and  they  produce  like  results  in 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  all.  The  little  folks  laugh  over  the 
Cow,  look  sober  over  the  Little  Orphan,  absorb  the  morals 
taught  by  the  Mouse,  and  are  sung  to  sleep  by  the  song  of 
the  Little  Snail. 

Sometimes  however  they,  like  children  in  other  lands,  are 
skeptical  as  to  the  reality  of  the  stories  told  in  the  songs. 
Thus  I remember  once  hearing  our  old  nurse  telling  a num- 
ber of  stories  and  singing  a number  of  songs  to  the  little 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


folk  in  the  nursery.  They  had  accepted  one  after  another 
the  legends  as  they  rolled  off  the  old  woman’s  tongue, 
without  question,  but  pretty  soon  she  gave  them  a version 
of  a Wind  Song  which  aroused  their  incredulity.  She  sang: 

Old  grandmother  Wind  has  come  from  the  East. 

She's  ridden  a donkey — a dear  little  beast. 

Old  mother-in-law  Rain  has  come  back  again. 

She's  come  from  the  North  on  a horse,  it  is  plain. 

Old  grandmother  Snow  is  coming  you  know, 

From  the  West  on  a crane — just  see  how  they  go. 

And  old  aunty  Lightning  has  come  from  the  South, 

On  a big  yellow  dog  with  a bit  in  his  mouth. 

“ There  is  no  grandmother  Wind,  is  there,  nurse  ?” 

“No,  of  course  not,  people  only  call  her  grandmother 
Wind.” 

“Why  do  they  call  the  other  mother-in-law  Rain  ?” 

“I  suppose,  because  mothers-in-law  are  often  disagree- 
able, just  like  rainy  weather.” 

“And  why  do  they  speak  of  snow  and  the  crane,  and 
lightning  and  a yellow  dog?” 

“I  suppose,  because  a crane  is  somewhat  the  color  of 
snow,  and  a yellow  dog  swift  and  the  color  of  lightning.” 


30 


“MY  TURN  NEXT.” 


PLAYING  HORSE 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


Before  going  to  China,  I could  not  but  wonder,  when  I 
saw  a Chinese  or  Japanese  doll,  why  it  was  they  made  such 
unnatural  looking  things  for  babies  to  play  with.  On  reach- 
ing the  Orient  the  whole  matter  was  explained  by  my  first 
sight  of  a baby.  The  doll  looks  like  the  child! 

Nothing  in  China  is  more  common  than  babies.  Nothing 
more  helpless.  Nothing  more  troublesome.  Nothing  more 
attractive.  Nothing  more  interesting. 

A Chinese  baby  is  a round-faced  little  helpless  human  an- 
imal, whose  eyes  look  like  two  black  marbles  over  which 
the  skin  had  been  stretched,  and  a slit  made  on  the  bias. 
His  nose  is  a little  kopje  in  the  centre  of  his  face,  above  a 
yawning  chasm  which  requires  constant  filling  to  insure  the 

preservation  of  law  and  order.  On  his  shaved  head  are  left 

33 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


small  tufts  of  hair  in  various  localities,  which  give  him  the 
appearance  of  the  plain  about  Peking,  on  which  the  traveler 
sees,  here  and  there,  a small  clump  of  trees  around  a country 
v'lbcre.  a home,  or  a cemetery;  the  remainder  of  the  country 

- being  bare.  These  tufts 
are  usually  on  the  “soft 
spot,"  in  the  back  of  his 
neck,  over  his  ears,  or  in 
a braid  or  a ring  on  the 
side  of  his  head. 

The  amount  of  joy 
brought  to  a home  by 
the  birth  of  a child  de- 
pends upon  several  im- 
portant considerations, 
chief  among  which  are 
its  sex,  the  number  and 
sex  of  those  already  in  the 
family,  and  the  financial 
condition  of  the  home. 

In  general  the  Chinese 
prefer  a preponderance 
of  boys,  but  in  case  the 
family  are  in  good  cir- 
cumstances and  already 
have  several  boys,  they 
are  as  anxious  for  a 
girl  as  parents  in  any 
other  country. 


34 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


The  reason  for  this  is  deeper  than  the  mere  fact  of  sex. 
It  is  imbedded  in  the  social  life  and  customs  of  the  people. 
A girl  remains  at  home  until  she  is  sixteen  or  seventeen, 
during  which  time  she  is  little  more  than  an  expense.  She 
is  then  taken  to  her  husband's  home  and  her  own  family 
have  no  further  control  over  her  life  or  conduct.  She 
loses  her  identity  with  her  own  family,  and  becomes  part 
of  that  of  her  husband.  This  through  many  years  and 
centuries  has  generated  in  the  popular  mind  a feeling  that 
it  is  “bad  business  raising  girls  for  other  people,”  and 
there  are  not  a few  parents  who  would  prefer  to  bring  up 
the  girl  betrothed  to  their  son,  rather  than  bring  up  their 
own  daughter. 

“Selfishness!  ” some  people  exclaim  when  they  read  such 
things  about  the  Chinese.  Yes,  it  is  selfishness;  but  life 
in  China  is  not  like  ours — a struggle  for  luxuries — but  a 
struggle,  not  for  bread  and  rice  as  many  suppose,  but  for 
cornmeal  and  cabbage,  or  something  else  not  more  palata- 
ble. This  is  the  life  to  which  most  Chinese  children  are 
born,  and  parents  can  scarcely  be  blamed  for  preferring 
boys  whose  hands  may  help  provide  for  their  mouths,  to 
girls  who  are  only  an  expense. 

The  presumption  is  that  a Chinese  child  is  born  with  the 
same  general  disposition  as  children  in  other  countries. 
This  may  perhaps  be  the  case;  but  either  from  the  treat- 
ment it  receives  from  parents  or  nurses,  or  because  of  the 
disposition  it  inherits,  its  nature  soon  becomes  changed, 
and  it  develops  certain  characteristics  peculiar  to  the 
Chinese  child.  It  becomes  t'ao  ch’i.  That  almost  means 


35 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


mischievous;  it  almost  means  troublesome — a little  tartar — 
but  it  means  exactly  fao  ch'i. 

In  this  respect  almost  every  Chinese  child  is  a little  tyrant. 
Father,  mother,  uncles,  aunts,  and  grandparents  are  all  made 
to  do  his  bidding.  In  case  any  of  them  seems  to  be  recal- 
citrant, the  little  dear  lies  down  on  his  baby  back  on  the 
dusty  ground  and  kicks  and  screams  until  the  refractory 
parent  or  nurse  has  repented  and  succumbed,  when  he  gets 
up  and  good-naturedly  goes  on  with  his  play  and  allows 
them  to  go  about  their  business.  The  child  is  fao  ch'i. 

This  disposition  is  general  and  not  confined  to  any  one 
rank  or  grade  in  society,  if  we  may  credit  the  stories  that 
come  from  the  palace  regarding  the  present  young  Emperor 
Kuang  Hsu.  When  a boy  he  very  much  preferred  foreign 
to  Chinese  toys,  and  so  the  eunuchs  stocked  the  palace 
nursery  with  all  the  most  wonderful  toys  the  ingenuity  and 
mechanical  skill  of  Europe  had  produced.  As  he  grew 
older  the  toys  became  more  complicated,  being  in  the  form 
of  gramophones,  graphophones,  telephones,  phonographs, 
electric  lights,  electric  cars,  cuckoo  clocks,  Swiss  watches 
and  indeed  all  the  great  inventions  of  modern  times.  The 
boy  was  fao  ch'i , and  the  eunuchs  say  that  if  he  were 
thwarted  in  any  of  his  undertakings,  or  denied  anything  he 
very  much  desired,  he  would  dash  a Swiss  watch,  or  any- 
thing else  he  might  have  in  his  hand,  to  the  floor,  breaking 
it  into  atoms  ; and  as  there  was  no  chance  of  using  the  rod 
there  was  no  way  but  to  spoil  the  child. 

It  is  amusing  to  listen  to  the  women  in  a Chinese  home 

when  a baby  comes.  If  the  child  is  a boy  the  parents  are 

36 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


congratulated  on  every  hand  because  of  the  “great  happi- 
ness ” that  has  come  to  their  home.  If  it  is  a girl,  and  there 
are  more  girls  than  boys  in  the  family,  the  old  nurse  goes 
about  as  if  she  had  stolen  it  from  somewhere,  and  when  she 
is  congratulated,  if  congratulated  she  happens  to  be,  she 
says  with  a sigh  and  a funereal  face,  “Only  a ‘small  hap- 
piness’— but  that  isn’t  bad.” 

When  a child  is  born  it 
is  considered  one  year  old, 
and  its  years  are  reckoned 
not  from  its  birthdays  but 
from  its  New  Year’s  days. 

If  it  has  the  good  fortune 
to  be  born  the  day  before 
New  Year’s  day,  when  it  is 
two  days  old  it  is  reckoned 
two  years  old,  being  one 
year  old  when  born  and 
two  years  old  on  its  first 
New  Year’s  day. 

The  first  great  event  in  a 
child’s  life  occurs  when  it  is 
one  month  old.  It  is  then 
given  its  first  public  recep- 
tion. Its  head  is  shaved 
amid  kicking  and  screaming,  its  mother  is  up  and  around 
where  she  can  receive  the  congratulations  of  her  friends, 
its  grandmother  is  the  honored  guest  of  the  occasion,  and 
the  baby  is  named. 


37 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


All  the  relatives  and  friends  are  invited  and  every  one  is 
expected  to  take  dinner  with  the  child,  and,  which  is  more 
important,  to  bring  presents.  If  the  family  is  poor,  this  day 
puts  into  the  treasury  of  life  a day  of  happiness  and  a goodly 
amount  of  filthy  lucre.  If  the  family  is  rich  the  presents  are 
correspondingly  rich,  for  nowhere  either  in  Orient  or  Occi- 
dent can  there  be  found  a people  more  lavish  and  generous 
in  their  gifts  than  the  Chinese.  All  the  family  can  afford 
is  spent  upon  the  dinner  given  on  this  occasion,  with  the 
assurance  that  they  will  receive  in  presents  and  money 
more  than  double  the  expense  both  of  the  dinner  and  the 

birth  of  the  child.  If  they  do  not  “come”  they  are  ex- 

pected to  “ send  ” or  they  “ lose  face.”  Among  the  middle 
class,  the  presents  are  of  a useful  nature,  usually  in  the  form 

of  money,  clothing  or  silver 
ornaments  which  are  always 
worth  their  weight'in  bullion. 

The  name  given  the  child 
is  called  its  “milk”  name, 
and  is  supposed  to  last  only 
until  the  boy  enters  school. 

Whether  boy  or  girl  it  may 

answer  a good  part  of  its  life 
to  the  place  it  occupies  in  the 
family  whether  first,  second, 
or  third. 

If  a girl  she  may  be  com- 
pelled to  answer  to  “ Little 
Slave,”  and  if  a boy  to 

38 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


“ Baldhead.”  But  the  names  usually  given  indicate  the 
place  or  time  of  birth,  the  hope  of  the  parent  for  the  child, 
or  exhibit  the  parent’s  love  of  beauty  or  euphony. 


A friend  who  was  educated  in  a school  situated  in  Filial 
Piety  Lane  and  who  afterwards  lived  near  Filial  Piety  Gate 
called  his  first  son  “Two  Filials.”  Another  friend  had  sons 
whose  names  were  “ Flave  a Man,”  “ Flave  a Mountain,” 
“Have  a Garden,”  “Have  a Fish.”  In  conversation  with 
this  friend  about  the  son  whose  “milk”  name  was  “ Have 
a Man,”  I constantly  spoke  of  the  boy  by  his  “school” 
name,  the  only  name  by  which  I knew  him.  The  old  man 
was  perfectly  blank — he  knew  not  of  whom  I spoke,  as  he 
had  not  seen  his  son  since  he  got  his  school  name.  Finally, 
as  it  began  to  dawn  on  him  that  I was  talking  of  his  son,  he 
asked: 


39 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


“ Whom  are  you  talking  about  ?” 

“ Your  son.” 

“ Oh,  you  mean  ‘ Have  a Man/  ” 

This  same  man  had  a little  girl  called  “Apple,”  notan 
ordinary  apple,  but  the  most  luscious  apple  known  to  North 
China.  1 have  as  I write  a list  of  names  commonly  applied 
to  girls  from  which  I select  the  following:  Beautiful  Au- 

tumn, Charming  Flower,  Jade  Pure,  Lucky  Pearl,  Precious 
Harp,  Covet  Spring;  and  the  parent’s  way  of  speaking  of 
his  little  girl,  when  not  wishing  to  be  self-depreciative,  is  to 
call  her  his  “ Thousand  ounces  of  gold.” 

The  names  given  to  boys  are  quite  as  humiliating  or  as 
elevating  as  those  given  to  girls.  He  may  be  Number  One, 
Two  or  Three,  Pig,  Dog  or  Flea,  or  he  may  be  like  Wu 
T’ing  Fang  a “ Fragrant  Palace,”  or  like  Li  Hung  Chang,  an 
“Illustrious  Bird”  or  “Learned  Treatise.” 

During  the  summer-time  in  North  China  the  child  goes 
almost  if  not  completely  naked.  Until  it  is  five  years  old, 
its  wardrobe  consists  largely  of  a chest-protector  and  a pair 
of  shoes.  In  the  winter-time  its  trousers  are  quilted,  with 
feet  attached,  its  coat  made  in  the  same  way,  and  it  is  any- 
thing but  “ clean  and  sweet.”  The  odor  is  not  unlike  that 
of  an  up-stairs  back  room  in  a narrow  alley  at  Five  Points, 
in  which  dwell  a whole  family  of  emigrants. 

When  the  Chinese  child  is  ill  he  does  not  have  the  same 
kind  of  hospital  accommodations,  nursing  and  medical  skill 
at  his  command  as  do  we  in  the  West.  His  bed  is  brick, 
his  pillow  stuffed  with  bran  or  grass-seed,  he  has  no  sheets, 

his  food  is  coarse  and  ill-adapted  to  a sick  child’s  stomach. 

40 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


While  his  nurse  may  be  kind,  gentle  and  loving  she  is  not 
always  skillful,  and  as  for  the  ability  of  his  physician  let  the 
following  child’s  song  tell  us: 


My  wife’s  little  daughter  once  fell  very  ill, 

And  we  called  for  a doctor  to  give  her  a pill. 

He  wrote  a prescription  which  now  we  will  give  her, 
In  which  he  has  ordered  a mosquito's  liver. 

And  then  in  addition  the  heart  of  a flea , 

And  half  pound  of  fly-wings  to  make  her  some  tea. 

41 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


When  the  child  begins  to  walk  and  talk  it  begins  to  be 
interesting.  Its  father  has  a little  push  cart  made  by  which 
it  learns  to  walk,  and  the  nurse  goes  about  the  court  with 
it  repeating  ba  ba,  ma  ma , (notice  that  these  words  for  papa 
and  mama  are  practically  the  same  in  Chinese  as  in  English, 
the  b being  substituted  for  p),  and  all  the  various  words 
which  mean  elder  brother,  younger  brother,  elder  and 
younger  sisters,  uncles,  aunts,  grandfathers,  grandmothers, 
and  cousins  and  all  the  various  relatives  which  may  be 
found  in  its  family,  village  or  home. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  learn  the  names  of  one’s  rela- 
tives in  China,  as  there  is  a separate  name  for  each  showing 
whether  the  person  whom  we  call  uncle  is  father  or 
mother’s  elder  or  younger  brother  or  the  husband  of  their 
elder  or  younger  sister.  When  it  comes  to  learning  the 
names  of  all  one's  cousins  it  is  quite  a difficult  affair.  Sup- 
pose, for  instance,  you  were  to  introduce  me  to  your  cousin, 
and  I wanted  to  know  which  one,  you  might  explain  that 
he  is  the  son  of  your  mother’s  elder  brother.  In  China  the 
word  you  used  for  cousin  would  express  the  exact  idea. 
The  child  begins  his  study  of  language  by  learning  all  these 
relationships. 

These  are  for  the  most  part  taught  them  by  the  nurse, 

who  is  an  important  element  in  the  Chinese  home  and  a 

useful  adjunct  to  the  child.  Each  little  girl  in  the  homes  of 

the  better  classes  has  her  own  particular  nurse,  who  teaches 

her  nursery  songs  in  her  childhood,  is  her  companion  during 

her  youth,  goes  with  her  to  her  husband’s  home,  when  she 

marries  presumably  to  prevent  her  becoming  lonesome,  and 

42 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


remains  with  her  through  life.  In  conversation  with  the 
granddaughters  of  a duke  and  their  old  nurse,  I discovered 
that  the  same  games  the  little  children  play  upon  the  street, 


they  play  in  the  seclusion  of  their  green-tiled  palace,  and  the 
same  nursery  songs  that  entice  Morpheus  to  share  the  mat 
shed  of  the  beggar’s  boy,  entice  him  also  to  share  the  silken 
couch  of  the  emperor  in  the  palace. 

When  a boy  is  old  enough,  he  grows  a queue,  which  takes 
the  place  in  the  life  of  the  Chinese  boy  which  his  first  pair  of 
trousers  does  in  that  of  the  American  or  English  boy.  It  is 
one  of  the  first  things  he  lives  for;  and  he  should  not  be  de- 
spised for  wearing  his  hair  in  this  fashion,  especially  when 
we  remember  that  George  Washington  and  Lafayette  and 
their  contemporaries  wore  their  hair  in  a braid  down  their 
backs. 

Besides  the  queue  has  a great  variety  of  uses.  It  serves 

43 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


him  in  some  of  the  games  he  plays.  When  I saw  the  boys 
in  geometry  use  their  queues  to  strike  an  arc  or  draw  a circle, 
it  reminded  me  of  my  college  days  when  I had  forgotten  to 
take  a string  to  class.  The  laborer  spreads  a handkerchief 
or  towel  over  his  head,  wraps  his  queue  around  it  and 
makes  for  himself  a hat.  The  cart  driver  whips  his  mule 
with  it;  the  beggar  uses  it  to  scare  away  the  dogs;  the 
father  takes  hold  of  his  little  boy’s  queue  instead  of  his  hand 
when  walking  with  him  on  the  street,  or  the  child  follows 
holding  to  his  father’s  queue,  and  the  boys  use  it  as  reins 
when  they  play  horse.  I saw  this  amusingly  illustrated  on 
the  streets  of  Peking.  Two  boys  were  playing  horse. 
Now  I have  always  noticed  that  when  a boy  plays  horse,  it 
is  not  because  he  has  any  desire  to  be  the  horse,  but  the 
driver.  He  is  willing  to  be  horse  for  a time,  in  order  that  he 
may  be  allowed  to  be  driver  for  a still  longer  time.  A large 
boy  was  playing  horse  with  a smaller  one,  the  latter  acting 
as  the  beast  of  burden.  This  continued  for  some  time, 
when  the  smaller,  either  discovering  that  a horse  is  larger 
than  a man,  or  that  it  is  more  noble  to  be  a man  than  a 
horse,  balked,  and  said: 

“Now  you  be  horse.” 

The  older  was  not  yet  inclined  to  be  horse,  and  tried  in 

vain,  by  coaxing,  scolding  and  whipping,  to  induce  him  to 

move,  but  the  horse  was  firm.  The  driver  was  also  firm, 

and  not  until  the  horse  in  a very  unhorselike  manner,  gave 

away  to  tears,  could  the  man  be  induced  to  let  himself  down 

to  the  level  of  a horse.  From  all  of  which  it  will  be  seen 

that  the  disposition  of  Chinese  children  is  no  exception  to 

44 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


that  longing  for  superiority  which  prevails  in  every  human 
heart. 

All  kinds  of  trades,  professions,  and  employments  have 
as  great  attraction  for  Chinese  as  for  American  children.  A 


country  boy  looks  forward  to  the  time  when  he  can  stand 
up  in  the  cart  and  drive  the  team.  Children  seeing  a bat- 
talion of  soldiers  at  once  “organize  a company.”  This 
was  amusingly  illustrated  by  a group  of  children  in  Peking 
during  the  Chinese-Japanese  war.  Each  had  a stick  or  a 
weed  for  a gun,  except  the  drummer-boy,  who  was  pro- 
vided with  an  empty  fruit-can.  They  went  through  va- 
rious maneuvres,  for  practice,  no  doubt,  and  all  seemed  to 
be  going  on  beautifully  until  one  of  those  in  front  shouted, 
in  a voice  filled  with  fear: 


45 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


“ The  Japanese  are  coming,  the  Japanese  are  coming.” 

This  was  the  signal  for  a general  retreat,  and  the  children, 
in  imitation  of  the  army  then  in  the  field,  retreated  in  dis- 
order and  dismay  in  every  direction. 

The  Chinese  boys  and  girls  are  little  men  and  women. 

At  an  early  age 
they  are  familiar 
with  all  the  rules 
of  behaviour 
which  charac- 
terize their  after 
life  and  conduct. 
Their  clothes  are 
cut  on  the  same 
pattern,  out  of 
the#s*ame  kind  of 
cloth  as  those  of 
their  parents  and  grandparents.  There  are  no  kilts  and 
knee-breeches,  pinafores  and  short  skirts,  to  make  them  feel 
that  they  are  little  people. 

But  they  are  little  people  as  really  and  truly  as  are  the 

children  of  other  countries.  A gentleman  in  reviewing  my 

“Chinese  Mother  Goose  Rhymes”  speaks  of  some  of  the 

illustrations  which  “ present  the  Chinese  children  playing 

their  sober  little  games.”  Why  we  should  call  such  a game 

as  “blind  man’s  buff,”  “ e-ni-me-ni-mi-ni-mo,”  “this  little 

pig  went  to  market ” or  “ pat-a-cake  ” “sober  little  games,” 

unless  it  is  because  of  preconceived  notions  of  the  Chinese 

people  1 do  not  understand.  The  children  are  dignified 

46 


CHILDREN  AND  CHILD-LIFE 


little  people,  but  they  enjoy  all  the  attractions  of  child-life  as 
much  as  other  children  do. 

It  is  a mistake  to  suppose  that  the  life  of  Chinese  children 
is  a doleful  one.  It  is  understood,  of  course,  that  their  life 
is  not  the  same,  nor  to  be  compared  with  that  of  children 
in  Europe  or  America:  and  it  should  be  remembered  further 


that  the  pleasures  of  child-life  are  not  measured  by  the 
gratification  of  every  childish  whim.  Many  of  the  little 
street  children  who  spend  a large  part  of  their  time  in 
efforts  to  support  the  family,  when  allowed  to  go  to  a fair 
or  have  a public  holiday  enjoy  themselves  more  in  a single 
day  than  the  child  of  wealth,  in  a whole  month  of  idleness. 

In  addition  to  his  games  and  rhymes,  the  fairs  which  are 

held  regularly  in  the  great  Buddhist  temples  in  different 

parts  of  the  cities,  are  to  the  Chinese  boy  what  a country 

fair,  a circus  or  Fourth  of  July  is  to  an  American  farmer’s 

boy  or  girl.  He  has  his  cash  for  candy  or  fruit,  his  crackers 

which  he  fires  off  at  New  Year’s  time,  making  day  a time 

47 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


of  unrest,  and  night  hideous.  Kite-flying  is  a pleasure 
which  no  American  boy  appreciates  as  does  the  Chinese,  a 
pleasure  which  clings  to  him  till  he  is  three-score  years  and 
ten,  for  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  a child  and  his  grand- 
father in  the  balmy  days  of  spring  flying  their  kites  together. 
He  has  his  pet  birds  which  he  carries  around  in  cages  or  on 
a perch  unlike  any  other  child  we  have  ever  seen.  He  has 
his  crickets  with  which  he  amuses  himself — not  “gambles” 

• — and  his  gold  fish  which  bring  him  days  and  years  of 
delight.  Indeed  the  Chinese  child,  though  in  the  vast 
majority  of  cases  very  poor,  has  ample  provision  for  a very 
good  time,  and  if  he  does  not  have  it,  it  must  be  his  own 
fault. 

Statements  about  the  life  of  the  children,  however,  may 
be  nothing  more  than  personal  impressions,  and  are  usually 
colored  as  largely  by  the  writer’s  prejudices  as  by  the  con- 
ditions of  the  children.  Some  of  us  are  so  constituted  as  to 
see  the  dark  side  of  the  picture,  others  the  bright.  Let  us 
go  with  the  boys  and  girls  to  their  games.  Let  us  play 
with  their  toys  and  be  entertained  by  the  shows  that  enter- 
tain them,  and  see  if  they  are  not  of  the  same  flesh  and 
blood,  heart  and  sentiment  as  we.  We  shall  find  that  the 
boys  and  girls  live  together,  work  together,  study  together, 
play  together,  have  their  heads  shaved  alike  and  quarrel 
with  each  other  until  they  are  seven  years  old,  the  period 
which  brings  to  an  end  the  life  of  the  Chinese  child.  From 
this  period  it  is  the  boy  or  the  girl. 


48 


“BLESSINGS  ON  THEE,  LITTLE  MAN, 

BARE-FOOT  BOY  WITH  CHEEKS  OF  TAN.” 


A CASH  FOR  YOUR  THOUGHTS. 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 

Children’s  games  are  always  interesting.  Chinese  games 
are  especially  so  because  they  are  a mine  hitherto  unex- 
plored. An  eminent  archdeacon  once  wrote:  “The Chinese 
are  not  much  given  to  athletic  exercises.”  A well-known 
doctor  of  divinity  states  that,  “their  sports  do  not  require 
much  physical  exertion,  nor  do  they  often  pair  off,  or  choose 
sides  and  compete,  in  order  to  see  who  are  the  best 
players,”  while  a still  more  prominent  writer  tells  us  that, 
“ active,  manly  sports  are  not  popular  in  the  South.”  Let  us 
see  whether  these  opinions  are  true. 

Two  years  ago  a letter  from  Dr.  Luther  Gulick,  at  present 

connected  with  the  Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  came  to 

us  while  in  Peking,  asking  that  we  study  into  the  character 

of  Chinese  children’s  games.  Dr.  Gulick  was  preparing  a 

51 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


series  of  lectures  on  the  “ Psychology  of  Play.”  He  desired 
to  secure  as  much  reliable  information  as  possible  regarding 
the  play-life  of  the  children  of  the  East,  in  order  that  he 
might  discover  what  relation  exists  between  the  games  of 
Oriental  and  those  of  Occidental  children.  By  so  doing  he 
would  learn  the  effect  of  play  on  the  mental  and  physical 
development  as  well  as  the  character  of  children,  and 
through  them  upon  the  human  race  as  a whole.  We  were 
fortunate  in  having  at  our  disposal  a large  number  of 
students  connected  with  Peking  University,  the  preparatory, 
intermediate  and  primary  schools,  together  with  150  girls  in 
attendance  at  the  girls’  high  school. 

We  received  the  letter  at  four  o’clock,  at  which  time  the 
students  had  just  been  dismissed  from  school,  and  were 
taking  their  afternoon  meal,  but  at  4:30  we  went  to  the 
playground,  notebook  in  hand,  called  together  some  of  our 
most  interesting  boys,  explained  to  them  our  object,  and 
asked  them  to  play  for  us.  Some  one  may  say  that  this  was 
the  worst  possible  thing  to  do,  as  it  would  make  the  chil- 
dren self-conscious  and  hence  unnatural — the  sequel,  how- 
ever, will  show. 

At  first  that  was  exactly  what  happened.  The  children 

tittered,  and  looked  at  each  other  in  blank  astonishment, 

then  one  of  them  walked  away  and  several  others  gathered 

about  us.  We  repeated  our  explanation  in  order  to  secure 

their  interest,  set  their  minds  to  work  thinking  up  games, 

and  do  away  with  the  embarrassment,  and  it  was  only  a 

few  minutes  before  an  intelligent  expression  began  to  appear 

in  the  eyes  of  some  of  the  boys,  and  one  of  them,  who  was 

52 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


always  ready  for  anything  new,  turned  to  his  companion 
and  said: 

“ You  go  and  find  Chi,  and  bring  him  here.” 

“Who  is  Chi  ?”  we  inquired. 

“He  is  the  boy  who  knows  more  games  than  any  of  the 
rest  of  us,”  he  explained. 

Away  he  ran  and  soon  reappeared  with  a very  unpromis- 
ing looking  boy  whom  we  recognized  as  a street  waif  that 
had  been  taken  into  what  some  one  called  our  “ raggedy 
school  ” a few  years  before.  He  was  a glum  looking  boy — 
a boy  without  a smile.  There  was  a set  expression  on  his 
face  which  might  be  interpreted  as  “life  is  not  worth 
living,”  or,  which  would  be  an  equally  legitimate  interpre- 
tation in  the  present  instance,  “these  games  are  of  no  im- 
portance. If  you  want  them  we  can  play  any  number  of 
them  for  you,  but  what  will  you  do  with  them  after  you  get 
them  ?” 

All  the  crowd  began  at  once  to  explain  to  Chi  what  we 
wanted,  and  he  looked  more  solemn  than  ever,  then  we 
came  to  his  rescue. 

“Chi,”  we  asked,  “ what  kind  of  games  do  boys  play?” 

Slowly  and  solemnly  Chi  wound  one  leg  around  the 
other  as  he  answered  : 

“ Lots  of  them.” 

This  is  the  stereotyped  answer  that  will  come  from  any 
Chinaman  to  almost  any  question  he  may  be  asked  about 
things  Chinese. 

“ For  instance?”  we  further  inquired. 

53 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


“ Forcing  the  city  gates,’’  he  answered. 

“ Play  it  for  me.”  . 

The  boys  at  once  appointed  captains  who  chose  sides, 
and  they  formed  themselves  into  two  lines  facing  each 
other,  those  of  each  line  taking  fast  hold  of  each  other’s 
hands.  The  boys  on  one  side  then  sang: 

He  stuck  a feather  in  his  hat, 

And  hurried  to  the  town, 

And  children  met  him  with  a horse 
For  the  gates  were  broken  down. 

Then  one  from  the  other  side  ran  with  all  his  force, 

throwing  himself  upon  the  hands  of  the  boys  who  had 

sung,  the  object  being  to  “break  through,”  in  which  case 

he  took  the  two  whose  hands  had  been  parted  to  “his 

side,”  while  if  he  failed  to  break  through  he  had  to  remain 

54 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


on  their  side.  The  others  then  sang.  One  from  this  group 
tried  to  break  through  their  line,  and  thus  they  alternated 
until  one  side  or  the  other  was  broken  up. 

The  boys  were  panting  and  red  in  the  face  when  the 
game  was  over,  a strong  argument  against  the  Chinese-are- 
not-much-given-to-vigorous-exercise  theory. 

“Now  play  something  which  does  not  require  so  much 
exercise,’'  we  requested. 

Every  one  looked  at  Chi,  not  that  the  other  boys  did  not 
know  the  games,  but  simply  because  this  matter-of-fact 
boy  was  their  natural  leader  in  this  kind  of  sport. 

“Blind  man,”  he  said  quietly. 


At  once  a handkerchief  was  tied  around  the  eyes  of  one 

of  the  boys  who  was  willing  to  be  “blind  man,”  and  a 

game  corresponding  almost  exactly  to  our  own  “blind 

55 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


man's  buff  ” was  played,  without  the  remotest  embarrass- 
ment, but  with  as  much  naturalness  as  though  neither 
teacher  nor  spectator  was  near  them. 

“Have  you  any  other  games  which  require  strength?" 
we  inquired. 

“Man-wheel/’  said  Chi  in  his  monosyllabic  way. 

“ Play  it,  please.” 

“Go  and  call  Wei-Yuan,”  to  one  of  the  smaller  boys. 

The  boy  ran  off  to  find  the  one  indicated,  and  Chi 
selected  two  other  middle-sized  and  two  small  boys. 
When  Wei-Yuan,  a larger  but  very  good-natured,  kindly- 
dispositioned  lad,  came,  the  two  middle-sized  boys  stood 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


beside  him,  one  facing  north,  the  other  south,  and  caught 
each  other's  hand  over  Wei-Yuan’s  shoulder.  The  two 
smaller  boys  then  stood  beside  these  two,  each  of  whom 
clutched  hold  of  the  small  boys’  girdles,  who  in  turn 
clutched  their  girdles  and  Wei-Yuan  took  their  disengaged 
hands.  Thus  the  five  boys  were  firmly  bound  together. 
The  wheel  then  began  to  turn,  the  small  boys  were  grad- 
ually lifted  from  the  ground  and  swung  or  whirled  around 
in  an  almost  horizontal  position. 

“This  game  requires  more  strength,”  Chi  explained, 
“than  any  other  small  boys’  game.” 

“ Have  you  any  games  more  vigorous  than  this  ?” 

“ Pitching  the  stone  lock,  and  lifting  the  stone  dumb- 
bells, but  they  are  for  men.” 

“ What  is  that  game  you  were  playing  a few  days  ago  in 
which  you  used  one  stick  to  knock  another  ?” 

“One  is  striking  the  stick,  and  another  is  knocking  the 
stick.” 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


“ Play  one  of  them.” 

Chi  drew  two  lines  on  the  ground  eight  feet  apart,  on  one 
of  which  he  put  a stick.  He  then  threw  another  stick  at  it, 
the  object  being  to  drive  it  over  the  other  line.  He  who 
first  succeeds  in  driving  it  over  the  line  wins  the  game. 
The  sticks  are  ten  to  fifteen  inches  long. 

Striking  the  stick  is  similar  to  tip-cat  which  we  have 
often  seen  played  by  boys  on  the  streets  of  New  York.  The 
children  mark  out  a square  five  or  six  feet  on  each  side. 
The  striker  takes  a position  inside,  with  his  feet  spread  apart 
as  wide  as  possible,  to  give  him  a better  command  of  the 
square.  One  of  the  others  places  the  block  in  the  position 
which  he  supposes  will  be  most  difficult  for  the  striker  to 
hit.  The  latter  is  then  at  liberty  to  twist  around  on  one 
foot,  placing  the  other  outside  the  square,  in  order  if  possi- 
ble to  secure  a position  from  which  he  can  strike  to  advan- 
tage. He  then  throws  a stick  about  fifteen  inches  long  at 
the  block  to  drive  it  out  of  the  square.  If  he  fails,  the  one 
who  placed  the  block  takes  the  stick,  and  another  places  the 
block  for  him.  If  he  succeeds  he  has  the  privilege  of  strik- 
ing the  block  three  times  as  follows  : He  first  strikes  it  per- 
pendicularly, which  causes  it  to  bound  up  two  or  three  feet, 
when  he  hits  it  as  one  would  hit  a ball,  driving  it  as  far  as 
possible.  This  he  repeats  three  times,  and  if  he  succeeds 
in  driving  it  the  distance  agreed  upon,  which  may  be  20, 
30,  200,  300,  300  or  more  feet,  he  wins  the  game.  If  not 
he  brings  back  the  block  and  tries  again,  continuing 
to  strike  until  he  fails  to  drive  it  out  of  the  square.  This 

game  develops  ingenuity  in  placing  the  block  and  skill, 

58 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


in  striking,  and  is  one  of  the  most  popular  of  all  boys’ 
games. 

When  they  had  finished  striking  the  stick  one  of  the 
smaller  children  went  over  to  where  Chi  was  standing  and 
whispered  in  his  ear.  The  expression  of  his  face  remained 
as  unchangeable  as  that  of  a stone  image,  as  he  called  out  : 
“Select  fruit.” 


The  boys  danced  about  in  high  glee,  selected  two  captains 
who  chose  sides,  and  they  all  squatted  down  in  two  rows 
twenty  feet  apart.  Each  boy  was  given  the  name  of  some 
kind  of  fruit,  such  as  apples,  pears,  peaches,  quinces  or 
plums,  all  of  which  are  common  about  Peking.  The  cap- 
tain on  one  side  then  blindfolded  one  of  his  boys,  while 
one  from  the  other  group  arose  and  stealthily  walked  over 
and  touched  him,  returning  to  his  place  among  his  own 
group  and  taking  as  nearly  as  possible  the  position  he  had 
when  the  other  was  blindfolded.  In  case  his  companions 

are  uncertain  as  to  whether  his  position  is  exactly  the  same, 

59 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


they  all  change  their  position,  in  order  to  prevent  the  one 
blindfolded  from  guessing  who  it  was  who  left  his  place. 

The  covering  was  then  removed  from  his  eyes,  he  went 
over  to  the  other  side,  examined  carefully  if  perchance  he 
might  discover,  from  change  of  position,  discomfort  in 
squatting,  or  a trace  of  guilt  in  the  face  or  eyes  of  any  of 
them,  a clue  to  the  guilty  party.  He  “made  faces”  to  try 
to  cause  the  guilty  one  to  laugh.  He  gesticulated,  grimaced, 
did  everything  he  could  think  of,  but  they  looked  blank  and 
unconcerned,  or  all  laughed  together,  allowing  no  telltale 
look  to  appear  on  their  faces.  His  pantomimes  sometimes 
brought  out  the  guilty  one,  but  in  case  they  did  not,  his  last 
resort  was  to  risk  a guess,  and  so  he  made  his  selection.  If  he 
was  right  he  took  the  boy  to  his  side;  if  wrong,  he  stayed 
on  their  side.  One  of  their  side  was  then  blindfolded, 
and  the  whole  was  repeated  until  one  group  or  the  other 


60 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


lost  all  its  men.  The  game  is  popular  among  girls  as  well 
as  boys. 

“ Do  you  have  any  other  guessing  games  ?”  we  asked  Chi. 

“Yes,  there  is  point  at  the  moon  or  the  stars,”  he  an- 
swered, “and  blind  man  is  also  a guessing  game.” 

By  this  time  the  boys  had  become  enthusiastic,  and  had 
entirely  forgotten  that  they  were  playing  for  us  or  indeed  for 
any  purpose.  It  was  a new  experience,  this  having  their 
games  taken  in  a notebook,  and  each  was  anxious  not  only 
that  he  play  well,  but  that  no  mistake  be  made  by  any  one. 
The  more  Chi  realized  the  importance  of  playing  the  games 
properly  the  more  solemn  he  became,  if  indeed  it  were  pos- 
sible to  be  more  solemn  than  was  his  normal  condition.  He 
now  changed  to  a game  of  an  entirely  different  character 
from  those  already  played.  Those  developed  strength,  skill 
or  curiosity;  this  developed  quick  reaction  in  the  players. 

“What  shall  we  play?”  inquired  one  of  the  boys. 

“Queue,”  answered  Chi. 


<>i 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Immediately  every  boy  jerked  his  queue  over  his  shoulder 
and  began  to  edge  away  from  his  companions.  But  as  he 
walked  away  from  one  he  drew  near  another,  and  a sudden 
calling  of  his  name  would  so  surprise  him  that  in  turning 
his  head  to  see  who  spoke,  his  short  queue  would  be  jerked 
back  over  his  shoulder  and  he  received  a dozen  slaps  from 
his  companions,  all  of  whom  were  waiting  for  just  such  an 
opportunity.  This  is  the  object  of  the  game — to  catch  a 
boy  with  his  queue  down  his  back.  Some  of  the  boys,  more 
spry  than  others,  would  move  away  to  a distance,  and  then  as 
though  all  unconsciously,  allow  their  queue  to  hang  down 
the  back  in  its  natural  position,  depending  upon  their  fleetness 
or  their  agility  in  getting  out  of  the  way  or  bringing  the 
queue  around  in  front.  This  game  is  peculiarly  interesting 
and  caused  much  hilarity.  At  times  even  the  solemn  face 
of  Chi  relaxed  into  a smile. 

“Honor,”  called  out  Chi,  and  as  in  the  circus  when  the 
ringmaster  cracks  his  whip,  everything  changed.  The  boys 
each  hooked  the  first  finger  of  his  right  hand  with  that  of 
his  companion  and  then  pulled  until  their  fingers  broke 
apart,  when  they  each  uttered  the  word  “ Honor.”  This 
must  not  be  spoken  before  they  broke  apart,  but  as  soon  as 
possible  after,  and  he  who  was  first  heard  was  entitled  to 
an  obeisance  on  the  part  of  the  other.  Those  who  failed 
the  first  trial  sat  down,  and  those  who  succeeded  paired  off 
and  pulled  once  more,  and  so  on  until  only  one  was  left, 
who,  as  in  the  spelling-bees  of  our  boyhood  days,  became 
the  hero  of  the  hour. 

Chi,  however,  was  not  making  heroes,  or  was  it  that  he 

62 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


did  not  want  to  hurt  the  feelings  of  those  who  were  less 
agile;  at  any  rate  he  called  out  “ Hockey,”  and  the  boys  at 


once  snatched  up  their  short  sticks  and  began  playing  at  a 
game  that  is  not  unlike  our  American  “shinny,”  a game 
which  is  so  familiar  to  every  American  boy  as  to  make  de- 
scription unnecessary — the  principal  difference  between 
this  and  the  American  game  being  that  the  boys  all  try  to 
prevent  one  boy  from  putting  a ball  into  what  they  call  the 
big  hole,  which,  like  the  others,  tended  to  develop  quick- 
ness of  action  in  the  boys. 

I was  familiar  with  the  fact  that  there  are  certain  games 
which  tend  to  develop  the  parental  or  protective  instinct  in 
children,  while  certain  others  develop  the  combative  and  de- 
structive, as  for  instance  playing  with  dolls  develops  the 
mother-instinct  in  girls;  tea-parties,  the  love  of  society;  and 
paper  dolls  teach  them  how  to  arrange  the  furniture  in  their 
houses;  while  on  the  other  hand,  wrestling,  boxing,  spar- 
ring, battles,  and  all  such  amusements  if  constantly  engaged 

63 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


in  by  boys,  tend  to  make  them,  if  properly  guided  and  in- 
structed, brave  and  patriotic;  but  if  not  properly  led,  cause 
them  to  be  quarrelsome,  domineering,  cruel,  coarse  and 
rough,  and  1 wondered  if  the  Chinese  boys  had  any  such 
games. 

“Chi,”  I asked,  “do  you  have  any  such  games  as  host 
and  guest,  or  games  in  which  the  large  boys  protect  the 
small  ones  ? ” 

“Host  and  guest,”  said  Chi. 

The  boys  at  once  arranged  themselves  promiscuously  over 
the  playground,  and  with  a few  peanuts,  or  sour  dates 
which  they  picked  up  under  the  date  trees,  with  all  the 
ceremony  of  their  race,  they  invited  the  others  to  dine  with 
them.  After  playing  thus  for  a moment,  Chi  called  out: 

“ Roast  dog  meat.” 


64 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


The  children  gathered  in  a group,  put  the  palms  of  their 
hands  together,  squatted  in  a bunch  or  ring,  and  placed  their 
hands  together  in  the  centre  to  represent  the  pot.  The  boy 
on  the  left  of  the  illustration  represents  Mrs.  Wang,  the 
guest  of  the  occasion,  while  Chi  himself  stands  on  the  right 
with  his  hand  on  the  head  of  one  of  the  boys.  Chi  walked 
around  the  ring  while  he  sang: 

Roast,  roast,  roast  dog  meat, 

The  second  pot  smells  bad, 

The  little  pot  is  sweet, 

Come,  Mrs.  Wang,  please, 

And  eat  dog  meat. 

He  then  invited  Mrs.  Wang  to  come  and  partake  of  a din- 
ner of  dog  meat  with  him,  and  the  following  conversation 
ensued. 


I cannot  walk. 

I’ll  hire  a cart  for  you. 

I’m  afraid  of  the  bumping. 
I'll  hire  a sedan  chair  for  you. 

I’m  afraid  of  the  jolting. 

I’ll  hire  a donkey  for  you. 

I’m  afraid  of  falling  off. 

I’ll  carry  you. 

I have  no  clothes. 

I’ll  borrow  some  for  you. 

I have  no  hair  ornaments. 
I’ll  make  some  for  you. 

I have  no  shoes. 

I’ll  buy  some  for  you. 

65 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


This  conv ei  sation  may  be  carried  on  to  any  length,  ac- 
cording  to  the  fertility  of  the  minds  of  the  children,  the  ex- 
cuses of  Mis.  Wang  at  times  being  very  ludicrous.  All 
these,  however,  being  met,  the  host  carries  her  off  on  his 
back  to  partake  of  the  dainties  of  a dog  meat  feast. 

What  weie  you  playing  a few  days  ago  when  all  the 
boys  lay  in  a straight  line  ? ” 

“Skin  the  snake.” 

The  boys  danced  for  glee.  This  was  one  of  their  favorite 
games. 

They  all  stood  in  line  one  behind  the  other.  They  bent 
foi  ward,  and  each  put  one  hand  between  his  legs  and  thus 
grasped  the  disengaged  hand  of  the  boy  behind  him. 


Then  they  began  backing.  The  one  in  the  rear  lay  down 
and  they  backed  over  astride  of  him,  each  lying  down  as  he 
backed  over  the  one  next  behind  him  with  the  other's  head 
between  his  legs  and  his  head  between  the  legs  of  his 
neighbor,  keeping  fast  hold  of  hands.  They  were  thus 
lying  in  a straight  line. 


66 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


The  last  one  that  lay  down  then  got  up,  and  as  he  walked 
astride  the  line  raised  each  one  after  him  until  all  were  up, 

when  they  let  go  hands,  stood  straight,  and  the  game  was 

* 

finished. 

“ Have  you  any  other  games  which  develop  the  protective 
instinct  in  boys?”  we  inquired  of  Chi. 

“ The  hawk  catching  the  young  chicks,”  said  the  matter- 
of-fact  boy,  answering  my  question  and  directing  the  boys 
at  the  same  time. 

The  children  selected  one  of  their  number  to  represent  the 
hawk  and  another  the  hen,  the  latter  being  one  of  the  largest 
and  best  natured  of  the  group,  and  one  to  whom  the  small 
boys  naturally  looked  for  protection. 

They  formed  a line  with  the  mother  hen  in  front,  each 
clutching  fast  hold  of  the  others’  clothing,  with  a large  active 
boy  at  the  end  of  the  line. 

The  hawk  then  came  to  catch  the  chicks,  but  the  mother 
hen  spread  her  wings  and  moved  from  side  to  side  keeping 
between  the  hawk  and  the  brood,  while  at  the  same  time 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


the  line  swayed  from  side  to  side  always  in  the  opposite 
direction  from  that  in  which  the  hawk  was  going.  Every 
chick  caught  by  the  hawk  was  taken  out  of  the  line  until 
they  were  all  gone. 

One  of  the  boys  whispered  something  to  Chi. 

“Strike  the  poles,”  exclaimed  the  latter. 

As  soon  as  they  began  playing  we  recognized  it  as  a game 
we  had  already  seen. 

The  boys  stood  about  four  feet  apart,  each  having  a stick 

four  or  five  feet  long  which  he  grasped  near  the  middle. 

As  they  repeated  the  following  rhyme  in  concert  they  struck 

alternately  the  upper  and  lower  ends  of  the  sticks  together, 

occasionally  half  inverting  them  and  thus  striking  the  upper 

ends  together  in  an  underhand  way.  They  struck  once  for 

68 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


each  accented  syllable  of  the  following  rhyme,  making  it  a 
very  rhythmical  game. 


Strike  the  stick, 

One  you  see. 

I’ll  strike  you  and  you  strike  me. 

Strike  the  stick, 

Twice  around, 

Strike  it  hard  for  a good,  big  sound. 

Strike  it  thrice, 

A stick  won’t  hurt. 

The  magpie  wears  a small  white  shirt. 

Strike  again. 

Four  for  you. 

A camel,  a horse,  and  a Mongol  too. 

Strike  it  five — 

Five  I said, 

A mushroom  grows  with  dirt  on  its  head. 
Strike  it  six 
Thus  you  do, 

Six  good  horsemen  caught  Liu  Hsiu. 

Strike  it  seven 
For  ’tis  said 

A pheasant’s  coat  is  green  and  red. 

Strike  it  eight, 

Strike  it  right, 

A gourd  on  the  house-top  blossoms  white. 
Strike  again, 

Strike  it  nine, 

We’ll  have  some  soup,  some  meat  and  wine. 
Strike  it  ten, 

Then  you  stop, 

A small,  white  blossom  on  an  onion  top. 

69 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Chi  did  not  wait  for  further  suggestion  from  any  one,  but 
called  out: 

“ Throw  cash.” 

The  boys  all  ran  to  an  adjoining  wall,  each  took  a cash 
from  his  purse  or  pocket,  and  pressing  it  against  the  wall, 
let  it  drop.  The  one  whose  cash  rolled  farthest  away  took 
it  up  and  threw  it  against  the  wall  in  such  a way  as  to  make 
it  bound  back  as  far  as  possible. 

Each  did  this  in  turn.  The  one  whose  cash  bounded 
farthest,  then  took  it  up,  and  with  his  foot-  on  the  place 
whence  he  had  taken  it,  he  pitched  or  threw  it  in  turn  at 
each  of  the  others.  Those  he  hit  he  took  up.  When  he 
missed  one,  all  who  remained  took  up  their  cash  and  struck 
the  wall  again,  going  through  the  same  process  as  before. 
The  one  who  wins  is  the  one  who  takes  up  most  cash. 

This  seemed  to  call  to  mind  another  pitching  game,  for 
Chi  said  once  more  in  his  old  military  way: 

“ Pitch  brickbats.” 

The  boys  drew  two  lines  fifteen  feet  apart.  Each  took  a 
piece  of  brick,  and,  standing  on  one  line  pitched  to  see  who 
could  come  nearest  to  the  other. 

The  one  farthest  from  the  line  set  up  his  brick  on  the  line 
and  the  one  nearest,  standing  on  the  opposite  line,  pitched  » 
at  it,  the  object  being  to  knock  it  over. 

If  he  failed  he  set  up  his  brick  and  the  other  pitched  at  it. 

If  he  succeeded,  he  next  pitched  it  near  the  other,  hopped 

over  and  kicked  his  brick  against  that  of  his  companion, 

knocking  it  over.  Then  he  carried  it  successively  on  his 

head,  on  each  shoulder,  on  back  and  breast  (walking),  in 

70 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


the  oend  of  his  thigh  and  the  bend  of  his  knee  (hopping), 
and  between  his  legs  (shuffling),  each  time  dropping  it  on 
the  other  brick  and  knocking  it  over. 

Finally  he  marked  a square  enclosing  the  brick,  eighteen 
inches  each  side,  and  hopped  back  and  forth  over  both 
square  and  brick  ten  times  which  constituted  him  winner  of 
the  game. 

Chi  had  become  so  expert  in  pitching  and  dropping  the 
brick  as  to  be  able  to  play  the  game  without  an  error.  The 
shuffling  and  hopping  often  caused  much  merriment. 

“ What  is  that  game,”  we  inquired  of  Chi,  “the  boys  on 
the  street  play  with  two  marbles  ?” 

■ Without  directly  answering  my  question  Chi  turned  to 
the  boys  and  said: 

“ Kick  the  marbles.” 

The  boys  soon  produced  from  somewhere, — Chinese  boys 

71 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


can  always  produce  anything  from  anywhere, — two  marbles 
an  inch  and  a half  in  diameter.  Chi  put  one  on  the  ground, 
and  with  the  toe  of  his  shoe  upon  it,  gave  it  a shove.  Then 
placing  the  other,  he  shoved  it  in  the  same  way,  the  object 
being  to  hit  the  first. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  one  may  win.  The  first 
boy  says  to  the  second,  kick  this  marble  north  (south,  east 
or  west)  of  the  other  at  one  kick.  If  he  succeeds  he  wins, 
if  he  fails  the  other  wins. 

If  he  puts  it  north  as  ordered,  he  may  kick  again  to  hit 
the  other  ball,  in  which  case  he  wins  again.  If  he  hits  the 
ball  and  goes  north,  as  ordered,  at  one  kick,  he  wins 
double. 

Each  boy  tries  to  leave  the  balls  in  as  difficult  a position 

72 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


as  possible  for  his  successor;  and  here  comes  in  a peculiar- 
ity which  leaves  this  game  unique  among  the  games  of  the 
world.  If  the  position  in  which  the  balls  are  left  is  too 
difficult  for  the  other  to  play  he  may  refuse  to  kick  and  the 
first  is  compelled  to  play  his  own  difficult  game — or  like 
Haman — to  hang  on  his  own  gallows.  It  recognizes  the 
Chinese  golden  rule  of  not  doing  to  others  what  you  would 
not  have  them  do  to  you. 

The  boys  spent  a long  time  playing  this  game — indeed 
they  seemed  to  forget  they  were  playing  for  us,  and  we 
were  finally  compelled  to  call  them  off. 

Chi  had  turned  the  marbles  over  to  the  others  as  soon  as 
he  had  fairly  started  it,  and  stood  in  that  peculiar  fashion  of 
his  with  one  leg  wound  around  the  other,  and  when  we 
called  to  them,  he  simply  said  as  though  it  were  the  next 
part  of  the  same  game: 

“ Kick  the  shoes.” 


73 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


The  boys  all  took  off  their  shoes — an  easy  matter  for  an 
Oriental — and  piled  them  in  a heap.  At  a given  sign  they 
all  kicked  .the  pile  scattering  the  shoes  in  every  direction, 
and  each  snatched  up,  and,  for  the  time,  kept  what  he  got. 
Those  who  were  very  agile  got  their  own  shoes,  or  a pair 
which  would  fit  them,  while  those  who  were  slow  only 
secured  a single  shoe,  and  that  either  too  large  or  too  small. 
It  was  amusing  to  see  a large-footed  boy  with  a small  shoe, 
and  a boy  with  small  feet  having  a shoe  or  shoes  much  too 
large  for  him. 

The  game  was  a good  test  of  the  boys’  agility. 

On  consulting  our  watch  we  found  it  would  soon  be  time 
for  the  boys  to  enter  school,  but  asked  them  to  play  one 
more  game. 

“Cat  catching  mice,”  said  Chi. 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  BOYS 


The  children  selected  one  of  their  company  to  represent 
the  cat  and  another  the  mouse. 

The  remainder  formed  a ring  with  the  mouse  inside  and 
the  cat  outside,  and  while  the  ring  revolved,  the  following 
conversation  took  place: 

“ What  o’clock  is  it  ? ” 

“Just  struck  nine.” 

“ Is  the  mouse  at  home  ? ” 

“ He’s  about  to  dine.” 

All  the  time  the  mouse  was  careful  to, keep  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  the  cat. 

The  ring  stopped  revolving  and  the  cat  popped  in  at  this 
side  and  the  mouse  out  at  the  other.  It  is  one  of  the  rules 
•of  the  game  that  the  cat  must  follow  exactly  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  mouse.  They  wound  in  and  out  of  the  ring 
for  some. time  but  at  last  the  mouse  was  caught  and 
“eaten,”  the  eating  process  being  the  amusing  part  of  the 
game.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  it  as  every  “cat”  does 
it  differently,  and  one  of  the  virtues  of  a cat  is  to  be  a good 
eater. 

The  boys  continued  to  play  until  the  bell  rang  for  the 
evening  session.  They  referred  to  many  different  games 
which  they  had  received  from  Europeans,  but  played  only 
those  which  Chi  had  learned  upon  the  street  before  he  en- 
tered school.  This  was  repeated  day  after  day,  until  we 
had  gathered  a large  collection  of  their  most  common,  and 
consequently  their  best,  games,  the  number  of  which  was 
an  indication  of  the  richness  of  the  play,  life  of  Chinese  boys. 

75 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Another  peculiarly  interesting  fact  was  the  leadership  of 
Chi.  The  Chinese  boy,  like  the  Chinese  man  is  a genuine 
democrat  and  is  ready  to  follow  the  one  who  knows  what  he 
is  about  and  is  competent  to  take  the  lead,  with  little  regard 
to  social  position.  It  is  the  civil  service  idea  of  a genuine 
democracy  ingrained  in  childhood. 


76 


READY  FOR  COMPANY, 


“HOW  DO  YOU  LIKE  OUR  NEW  DRESSES?” 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 

After  having  made  the  collection  of  boys’  games  we 
undertook  to  obtain  in  a similar  way,  fullest  information 
concerning  games  played  by  the  girls.  Of  course,  it  was 
impossible  to  do  it  alone,  for  the  appearance  of  a man 
among  a crowd  of  little  girls  in  China  is  similar  to  that  of  a 
hawk  among  a flock  of  small  chicks — it  results  in  a tittering 
and  scattering  in  every  direction,  or  a gathering  together  in 
a flock  under  the  shelter  of  the  school  roof  or  the  wings  of 
the  teacher.  One  of  the  teachers,  however,  Miss  Effie 
Young,  kindly  consented  to  go  with  us,  and  a goodly 
number  of  the  small  girls,  after  a less  than  usual  amount  of 
tittering  and  whispering,  gathered  about  us  to  see  what  was 
wanted.  The  smallest  among  them  was  the  most  brave, 
and  Miss  Young  explained  that  this  was  a “ little  street 

79 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


waif  ” who  had  been  taken  into  the  school  because  she  had 
neither  home  nor  friends,  with  the  hope  that  something 
might  be  done  to  save  her  from  an  unhappy  fate. 

“ Do  you  know  any  games  ? ” we  asked  her. 

She  put  her  hands  behind  her,  hung  her  head,  shuffled 
in  an  embarrassed  manner,  and  answered  : “ Lots  of 

them." 

“ Play  some  for  me.” 

This  small  girl  after  some  delay  took  control  of  the  party 

and  began  arranging 
them  for  a game, 
which  she  called  “ go- 
ing to  town,”  similar 
to  one  which  the  boys 
called  “pounding- 
rice.”  Two  of  the 
girls  stood  back  to 
back,  hooked  their 
arms,  and  as  one  bent 
forward  she  raised 
the  other  from  the 
ground,  and  thus  al- 
ternating, they  sang: 

Up  you  go,  down  you  see, 

Here's  a turnip  for  you  and  me; 

Here’s  a pitcher,  we’ll  go  to  town; 

Oh,  what  a pity,  we’ve  fallen  down. 

At  which  point  they  both  sat  down  back  to  back,  their 

80 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 


arms  still  locked,  and  asked  and  answered  the  following 
questions : 


What  do  you  see  in  the  heavens  bright? 

1 see  the  moon  and  the  stars  at  night. 

What  do  you  see  in  the  earth,  pray  tell? 

I see  in  the  earth  a deep,  deep  well. 

What  do  you  see  in  the  well,  my  dear  ? 

I see  a frog  and  his  voice  1 hear. 

What  is  he  saying  there  on  the  rock  ? 

Get  up,  get  up,  ke’rh  kua,  ke’rh  kua. 

They  then  tried  to  get  up,  but,  with  their  arms  locked, 
they  found  it  impossible  to  do  so,  and  rolled  over  and  got 
up  with  great  hilarity. 

This  seemed  to  suggest  to  our  little  friend  another  game, 
which  she  called  “ turning  the  mill.”  The  girls  took  hold 


81 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


of  each  other's  hands,  just  as  the  boys  do  in  “churning 
butter,”  but  instead  of  turning  around  under  their  arms  they 
turn  half  way,  put  one  arm  up  over  their  head,  bringing 
their  right  or  left  sides  together,  one  facing  one  direction 
and  one  the  other  ; then,  standing  still,  the  following  dia- 
logue took  place : 

Where  has  the  big  dog  gone  ? 

Gone  to  the  city. 

Where  has  the  little  dog  gone  ? 

Run  away. 

Then,  as  they  began  to  turn,  they  repeated: 

The  big  dog's  gone  to  the  city; 

The  little  dog’s  run  away; 

The  egg  has  fallen  and  broken, 

And  the  oil’s  leaked  out,  they  say. 

But  you  be  a roller 
And  hull  with  power, 

And  I’ll  be  a millstone 
And  grind  the  flour. 

As  soon  as  this  game  was  finished  our  little  friend 
arranged  the  children  against  the  wall  for  another  game. 
Everything  was  in  readiness.  They  were  about  to  begin, 
when  one  of  the  larger  girls  whispered  something  in  her 
ear.  She  stepped  back,  put  her  hands  behind  her,  hung 
her  head  and  thought  a moment. 

“Go  on,”  we  said. 

“ No,  we  can’t  play  that;  there  is  too  much  bad  talk  in  it.” 

This  is  one  of  the  unfortunate  features  of  Chinese  chil- 

82 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 


dren’s  games  and  rhymes.  There  is  an  immense  amount  of 
bad  talk  in  them. 

She  at  once  called  out: 

“Meat  or  vegetables.’’ 

Each  girl  began  to  scurry  around  to  find  a pair  of  old 
shoes,  which  may  be  picked  up  almost  anywhere  in  China, 
and  putting  one  crosswise  of  the  other,  they  let  them  fall. 
The  way  they  fell  indicated  what  kind  of  meat  or  vegetables 
they  were.  If  they  both  fell  upside  down  they  were  the  big 
black  tiger.  If  both  fell  on  the  side  they  were  double  beans. 
If  one  fell  right  side  up  and  the  other  on  its  side  they  were 
beans.  If  both  were  right  side  up  they  were  honest  officials. 
(What  kind  of  meat  or  vegetables  honest  officials  are  it  is 
difficult  to  say,  but  that  never  troubles  the  Chinese  child.) 
If  one  is  right  side  and  the  other  wrong  side  up  they  are 
dogs  legs.  If  the  toe  of  one  rests  on  the  top  of  the  other, 
both  right  side  up  and  at  right  angles,  they  form  a dark 
hole  or  an  alley. 

The  child  whose  shoes  first  form  an  alley  must  throw  a 
pebble  through  this  alley — that  is,  under  the  toe  of  the  shoe 
— three  times,  or,  failing  to  do  so,  one  of  the  number  takes 
up  the  shoes,  and  standing  on  a line,  throws  them  all  back 
over  her  head.  Then  she  hops  to  each  successively,  kicking 
it  back  over  the  line,  each  time  crossing  the  line  herself,  until 
all  are  over.  In  case  she  fails  another  tries  it  in  the  same 
way,  and  so  on,  till  some  one  succeeds.  This  one  then  takes 
the  two  shoes  of  the  one  who  got  the  alley,  and,  hanging 
them  successively  on  her  toe,  kicks  them  as  far  as  possible. 

The  possessor  of  the  shoes,  starting  from  the  line,  hops  to 

83 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


each,  picks  it  up  and  hops  back  over  the  line  with  it,  which 
ends  the  game.  It  is  a vigorous  hopping  game  for  little  girls. 

The  girls  were  pretty  well  exhausted  when  this  game  was 
over  and  we  asked  them  to  play  something  which  required 
less  exercise. 

“Water  the  flowers,”  said  the  small  leader. 

Several  of  them 
squatted  down 
in  a circle,  put 
their  hands  to- 
gether in  the 
centre  to  repre- 
sent the  flowers. 
One  of  their 
number  gath- 
ered up  the  front 
of  her  garment 
in  such  a way 
as  to  make  a 
bag,  and  went 
around  as  if  sprinkling  water  on  their  heads,  at  the  same 
time  repeating: 

“ I water  the  flowers,  I water  the  flowers, 

I water  them  morning  and  evening  hours, 

I never  wait  till  the  flowers  are  dry, 

I water  them  ere  the  sun  is  high.” 

She  then  left  a servant  in  charge  of  them  while  she  went 

to  dinner.  While  she  was  away  one  of  them  was  stolen. 

84 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 


Returning  she  asked:  “How  is  this  that  one  of  my 
flowers  is  gone  ?” 

“ A man  came  from  the  south  on  horseback  and  stole  one 
before  I knew  it.  1 followed  him  but  how  could  I catch  a 
man  on  horseback  ?” 

After  many  rebukes  for  her  carelessness,  she  again  sang: 

“ A basin  of  water,  a basin  of  tea, 

I water  the  flowers,  they’re  op’ning  you  see.” 

Again  she  cautioned  the  servant  about  losing  any  of  the 
flowers  while  she  went  to  take  her  afternoon  meal,  but  an- 
other flower  was  stolen  and  this  time  by  a man  from  the 
west. 

When  the  mistress  returned,  she  again  scolded  the  servant, 
after  which  she  sang: 

“A  basin  of  water,  another  beside, 

I water  the  flowers,  they’re  opening  wide.” 

This  was  continued  until  all  the  flowers  were  gone.  One 
had  been  taken  by  a carter,  another  by  a donkey-driver,  an- 
other by  a muleteer,  another  by  a man  on  a camel,  and 
finally  the  last  little  sprig  was  eaten  by  a chicken.  The 
servant  was  soundly  berated  each  time  and  cautioned  to  be 
more  careful,  which  she  always  promised  but  never  per- 
formed, and  was  finally  dismissed  in  disgrace  without  either 
a recommendation,  or  the  wages  she  had  been  promised 
when  hired. 

The  game  furnishes  large  opportunity  for  invention  on 

85 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


the  part  of  the  servant,  depending  upon  the  number  of  those 
to  be  stolen.  This  little  girl  seemed  to  be  at  her  wit’s  end 
when  she  gave  as  the  excuse  for  the  loss  of  the  last  one  that 
it  had  been  eaten  by  a chicken. 

This  game  suggested  to  our  little  friend  another  which 
proved  to  be  the  sequel  to  the  one  just  described,  and  she 
called  out: 


“ The  flower-seller.” 

The  girl  who  had  just  been  dismissed  appeared  from 
behind  the  corner  of  the  house  with  all  the  stolen  “flowers,” 
each  holding  to  the  other’s  skirts.  At  the  same  time  she 
was  calling  out: 


“ Flowers  for  sale, 

Flowers  for  sale, 

Come  buy  my  flowers 
Before  they  get  stale.” 

The  original  owner  hereupon  appeared  and  called  to  her: 

“Hey!  come  here,  flower-girl,  those  flowers  look  like 

mine,”  and  she  took  one  away. 

86 


\ 

GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 

The  flower-seller  did  not  stop  to  argue  the  question  but 
hurried  off  crying: 

“ Flowers  for  sale,”  etc. 

The  original  owner  again  called  to  her: 

“Ho!  flower-seller,  come  here,  those  flowers  are  certainly 
mine,”  whereupon  she  took  them  all  and  whipped  the 
flower-seller  who  ran  away  crying. 

As  the  little  flower-seller  ran  away  crying  in  her  sleeve, 
she  stumbled  over  an  old  flower-pot  that  lay  in  the  school 
court.  This  accident  seemed  to  act  as  a reminder  to  our 
little  leader  for  she  called  out, 

“ Flower-pot.” 

The  girls  divided  themselves 

into  companies  of  three  and 

stood  in  the  form  of  a triangle, 

each  with  her  left  hand  holding 

the  right  hand  of  the  other,  their 

hands  being  crossed  in  the  centre. 

Then  by  putting  the  arms  of 

two  back  of  the  head  of  the  third 

she  was  brought  into  the  centre 

(steps  into  the  well),  and  by 

stepping  over  two  other  arms, 

she  goes  out  on  the  opposite 

side,  so  that  whereas  she  was  on  the  left  side  of  this  and 

the  right  side  of  that  one,  she  now  stands  on  the  right 

side  of  this  and  the  left  side  of  that  girl.  In  the  same  way 

87 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


the  second  and  third  girls  go  through,  and  so  on  as  long  as 
they  wish  to  keep  up  the  game,  saying  or  singing  the  fol- 
lowing rhyme: 

You  first  cross  over,  and  then  cross  back, 

And  step  in  the  well  as  you  cross  the  track, 

And  then  there  is  something  else  you  do, 

Oh,  yes,  you  make  a f! ower-pot  too. 

By  this  time  the  girls  had  lost  most  of  their  strangeness 
or  embarrassment  and  continued  the  flower-pot  until  we 
were  compelled  to  remind  them  that  they  were  playing  for 
us.  Everybody  let  gu  hands  and  the  little  general  called 
out, 

“ The  cow’s  tail.” 

One  girl  with  a small  stick  in  her  hand  squatted  down 


88 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 


pretending  to  be  digging  and  the  others  took  a position  one 
behind  the  other  similar  to  the  hawk  catching  the  chicks. 
They  walked  up  to  the  girl  digging  and  engaged  in  the  fol- 
lowing conversation: 


“ What  are  you  digging  ? ” 

“ Digging  a hole.” 

“ What  is  it  for  ? ” 

“ My  pot  for  to  boil.” 

“ What  will  you  heat  ?” 

“Some  water  and  broth.” 

“ How  use  the  water  ? ” 

“ I’ll  wash  some  cloth.” 
“What  will  you  make?” 

“ I’ll  make  a bag.” 

“And  what  put  in  it  ? ” 

“ A knife  and  a rag.” 
“What  is  the  knife  for?” 

“ To  kill  your  lambs.” 
“What  have  they  done?” 

“ They’ve  eaten  my  yams.” 
“ How  high  were  they?” 

“ About  so  high.” 

“ Oh,  that  isn’t  high.” 

“ As  high  as  the  sky.” 


“ What  is  your  name  ? ” 

“ My  name  is  Grab,  what  is  your  name  ?” 
“ My  name  is  Turn.” 

“ Turn  once  for  me.” 

8B 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


They  all  walked  around  in  a circle  and  as  they  turned 
they  sang: 

“ We  turn  about  once, 

Or  twice  I declare, 

And  she  may  grab, 

But  we  don't  care.” 

“ Can’t  you  grab  once  for  us  ? ” 

“ Yes,  but  what  I grab  I keep.” 

She  then  ran  to  “grab”  one  of  the  “ lambs  ” but  they 
kept  behind  the  front  girl  just  as  the  boys  did  in  the  hawk 
catching  the  chicks.  After  awhile  however,  they  were  all 
caught. 

Why  this  game  is  called  “ cow’s  tail  ” and  the  girls  called 
“lambs,”  we  do  not  know.  We  asked  the  girls  why  and 
their  answer  was,  “ There  is  no  reason.” 

The  girls  were  panting  with  the  running  before  they  were 
all  caught  and  we  suggested  that  they  rest  awhile,  but  in- 
stead the  little  leader  called  out: 

“ Let  out  the  doves.” 

One  of  the  larger  girls  took  hold  of  the  hands  of  two  of 
the  smaller,  one  of  whom  represented  a dove  and  the  other 
a hawk.  The  hawk  stood  behind  her  and  the  dove  in  front. 

She  threw  the  dove  away  as  she  might  pitch  a bird  into 
the  air,  and  as  the  child  ran  it  waved  its  arms  as  though  they 
were  wings.  She  threw  the  hawk  in  the  same  way,  and  it 
followed  the  dove. 

She  then  clapped  her  hands  as  the  Chinese  do  to  bring 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 


their  pet  birds  to  them,  and  the  dove  if  not  caught,  returned 
to  the  cage.  This  is  a very  pretty  game  for  little  children. 

By  this  time  the  girls  were  all  rested  and  our  little  friend 
said: 

“ Seek  for  gold.” 

Three  or  four  of  the  girls  gathered  up  some  pebbles, 
squatted  down  in  a group  and  scattered  them  as  they  would 
a lot  of  jackstones.  Then  one  drew  her  finger  between  two 
of  the  stones  and  snapped  one  against  the  other.  If  she  hit 
it  the  two  were  taken  up  and  put  aside. 

She  then  drew  her  finger  between  two  more  and  snapped 
them. 

If  she  missed,  another  girl  took  up  what  were  left,  scat- 
tered them,  snapped  them,  took  them  up,  and  so  on  until  one 
or  another  got  the  most  of  the  pebbles  and  thus  won  the  game. 


91 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Our  little  friend  was  reminded  of  another  and  she  called 
out: 

“ The  cow’s  eye.” 

Immediately  the  girls  all  sat  down  in  a ring  and  put  their 
feet  together  in  the  centre.  Then  one  of  their  number  re- 
peated the  following  rhyme,  tapping  a foot  with  each  ac- 
cented syllable. 


One,  two,  three,  and  an  old  cow’s  eye, 
When  a cow's  eye’s  blind  she’ll  surely  die. 
A piece  of  skin  and  a melon  too, 

If  you  have  money  I’ll  sell  to  you, 

But  if  you’re  without, 

I’ll  put  you  out. 


The  foot  on  which  her  finger  happened  to  rest  when  she 
said  “out”  was  excluded  from  the  ring.  Again  she  re- 
peated the  rhyme  excluding  a foot  with  each  repetition  till 
all  but  one  were  out. 

Up  to  this  point  all  the  children  were  in  a nervous  quiver 
waiting  to  see  which  foot  would  be  left,  but  now  the  fun 
began,  for  they  took  the  shoe  off  and  every  one  slapped 
that  unfortunate  foot.  This  was  done  with  good-natured 
vigor  but  without  intention  to  hurt.  It  was  amusing  to  see 
the  children  squirm  as  they  neared  the  end  of  the  game. 

This  game  finished,  the  little  girl  called  out: 

“ Pat  your  hands  and  knees.” 

The  girls  sat  down  in  pairs  and,  after  the  style  of  “ Bean 

Porridge  Hot,”  clapped  hands  to  the  following  rhyme: 

92 


GAMES  PLAYED  BY  GIRLS 


Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

On  January  first, 

The  old  lady  likes  to  go  a sightseeing  most. 

Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

On  February  second, 

The  old  lady  likes  a piece  of  candy  it  is  reckoned. 
Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

On  March  the  third, 

The  old  lady  likes  a Canton  pipe  I have  heard. 

Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

On  April  fourth, 

The  old  lady  likes  bony  fish  from  the  north. 

Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

The  fifth  of  May, 

The  old  lady  likes  sweet  potatoes  every  day. 

Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

The  sixth  of  June, 

The  old  lady  eats  fat  pork  with  a spoon. 

Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

The  seventh  of  July, 

The  old  lady  likes  to  eat  a fat  chicken  pie. 

Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

On  August  eight, 

The  old  lady  likes  to  see  the  lotus  flowers  straight. 
Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

September  nine, 

The  old  lady  likes  to  drink  good  hot  wine. 

Pat  your  hands  and  knees, 

October  ten, 

The  old  lady,  you  and  I,  may  meet  I hope  again. 


This  we  afterwards  discovered  is  very  widely  known 

throughout  the  north  of  China. 

93 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


The  foregoing  are  a few  of  the  games  played  by  the 
children  in  Peking.  In  that  one  city  we  have  collected 
more  than  seventy-five  different  games,  and  have  no  reason 
to  believe  we  have  secured  even  a small  proportion  of  what 
are  played  there.  Games  played  in  Central  and  South  China 
are  different,  partly  because  of  climatic  conditions,  partly 
because  of  the  character  of  the  people.  There,  as  here,  the 
games  of  children  are  but  reproductions  of  the  employments 
of  their  parents.  They  play  at  farming,  carpentry,  house- 
keeping, storekeeping,  or  whatever  employments  their 
parents  happen  to  be  engaged  in.  Indeed,  in  addition  to 
the  games  common  to  a larger  part  of  the  country,  there 
are  many  which  are  local,  and  depend  upon  the  employ- 
ment of  the  parents  or  the  people. 


94 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS,  WE  TAKE  FOR  GRANTED, 
WILL  BE  FOUND  IN  EVERY  HOME. 


COUNTING  THE  GOLD  FISH 


THE  TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 

One  day  while  sitting  at  table,  with  our  little  girl,  nineteen 
months  old,  on  her  mother’s  knee  near  by,  we  picked  up 
her  rubber  doll  and  began  to  whip  it  violently.  The  child 
first  looked  frightened,  then  severe,  then  burst  into  tears  and 
plead  with  her  mother  not  to  “let  papa  whip  dolly.” 

Few  people  realize  how  much  toys  become  a part  of  the 
life  of  the  children  who  play  with  them.  They  are  often 
looked  upon  as  nothing  more  than  “playthings  for  chil- 
dren.” This  is  a very  narrow  view  of  their  uses  and 
relationships.  There  is  a philosophy  underlying  the  pro- 
duction of  toys  as  old  as  the  world  and  as  broad  as  life,  a 
philosophy  which,  until  recent  years,  has  been  little  studied 
and  cultivated. 

Playthings  are  as  necessary  a constituent  of  human  life  as 

97 


V“'  • 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


food  or  medicine,  and  contribute  in  a like  manner  to  the 
health  and  development  of  the  race.  Like  the  science  of 
cooking  and  healing,  the  business  of  toy-making  has  been 
driven  by  the  stern  teacher,  necessity,  to  a rapid  self-develop- 
ment for  the  general  good  of  the  little  men  and  women  in 
whose  interests  they  are  made. 

They  are  the  tools  with  which  children  ply  their  trades; 
the  instruments  with  which  they  carry  on  their  professions; 
the  goods  which  they  buy  and  sell  in  their  business,  and  the 
paraphernalia  with  which  they  conduct  their  toy  society. 
They  are  more  than  this.  They  are  the  animals  which  serve 
them,  the  associates  who  entertain  them,  the  children  who 
comfort  them  and  bring  joy  to  the  mimic  home. 

Toys  are  nature’s  first  teachers.  The  child  with  his  little 
shovels,  spades  and  hoes,  learns  his  first  lessons  in  agricul- 
ture; with  his  hammer  and  nails,  he  gets  his  first  lessons  in 
the  various  trades;  and  the  bias  of  the  life  of  many  a child 
of  larger  growth  has  come  from  the  toys  with  which  he 
played.  Into  his  flower  garden  the  father  of  Linnaeus  in- 
troduced his  son  during  his  infancy,  and  “this  little  garden 
undoubtedly  created  that  taste  in  the  child  which  afterwards 
made  him  the  first  botanist  and  naturalist  of  his  age,  if  not 
of  his  race.” 

No  experiments  in  any  chemical  laboratory  will  excite 
more  wonder  or  be  carried  on  with  more  interest,  than  those 
which  the  boy  performs  with  his  pipe  and  basin  of  soapy 
water.  The  little  girl’s  mud  pies  and  other  sham  confec- 
tionery furnish  her  first  lessons  in  the  art  of  preparing  food. 

Her  toy  dinners  and  playhouse  teas  offer  her  the  first  ex- 

98 


TOYS  CHILDREN 


PLAY  WITH 


periences  in  the  entertainment 
of  guests.  With  her  dolls, 
she  takes  her  first  lessons  in 
the  domestic  relations  and 
affections. 

No  science  has  ever  origi- 
nated and  been  carried  to  any 
degree  of  perfection  in  Asia. 

There  is  no  reason  why  this 
statement  should  cause  the 
noses  of  Europeans  and  Amer- 
icans to  twitch  in  derision  and 
pride,  for  there  is  another  fact 
equally  momentous  in  favor  of 
the  Asiatics, — viz.,  no  religion  that  originated  outside  of 
Asia  has  ever  been  carried  to  any  degree  of  perfection. 

The  above  facts  will  indicate  that  we  need  not  hope  to 
find  the  business  of  toy-making,  or  the  science  of  child- 
education  in  a very  advanced  state  in  China — the  most 
Asiatic  country  of  Asia.  Child’s  play  and  toy-making  have 
been  organized  into  a business  and  a science  in  Europe,  as 
astronomy,  which  had  been  studied  so  long  in  Asia,  was 
developed  into  a science  by  the  Greeks.  And  so  we  find 
that  what  is  taught  in  the  kindergarten  of  the  West  is 
learned  in  the  streets  of  the  East;  and  the  toys  which  are 
manufactured  in  great  Occidental  business  establishments, 
are  made  by  poor  women  in  Oriental  homes,  and  the  same 
mistakes  are  made  by  the  one  as  by  the  other. 

The  same  whistle  by  which  the  cock  crows,  enables  the 

99 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


dog  to  bark,  the  baby  to  cry,  the  horse  to  neigh,  the  sheep 
to  bleat  and  the  cow  to  low,  just  as  in  our  own  rubber 
goods.  The  same  end  is  accomplished  in  the  one  case  as  in 
the  other.  The  two,  three  or  twenty  cash  doll  does  for  the 
Chinese  girl  what  the  two,  three  or  twenty  dollar  one  does 
for  her  antipodal  sister, — develops  the  instinct  of  mother- 
hood, besides  standing  a greater  amount  of  rough  handling. 
Nevertheless  it  usually  comes  to  the  same  deplorable  end, 
departing  this  world,  bereft  of  its  arms  and  legs,  without 
going  through  the  tedious  process  of  a surgical  operation. 


Chinese  toys  are  less  varied,  less  complicated,  less  true  to 

the  original,  and  less  expensive  than  those  of  the  West,— 

more  perhaps  like  the  toys  of  a century  or  two  ago.  Never- 

100 


TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 


theless  they  are  toys,  and  in  the  hands  of  boys  and  girls, 
the  drum  goes  “rub-a-dub,”  the  horn  “toots,”  and  the 
whistle  squeaks.  The  “gingham  dog  and  calico  cat,”  be- 
sides a score  of  other  animals  more  nearly  related  to  the  soil 
of  their  native  place — being  made  of  clay — express  them- 
selves in  the  language  of  the  particular  whistle  which  hap- 
pens to  have  been  placed  within  them.  All  this  is  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  “little  Miss  Muffet”  and  “little  boy 
Blue,”  just  as  they  do  in  other  lands. 

When  the  children  grow  older  they  have  tops  to  spin  that 
whistle  as  good  a whistle,  and  buzzers  to  buzz  that  buzz  as 
good  a buzz,  and  music  balls  to  roll,  and  music  carts  to  pull, 
that  emit  sounds  as  much  to  their  satisfaction,  as  anything 
that  ministered  to  the  childish  tastes  of  our  grandfathers; 
and  these  become  as  much  a part  of  their  business  and  their 
life  as  if  they  were  living,  talking  beings.  Furthermore, 
their  dolls  are  as  much  their  children  as  they  themselves  are 
the  offspring  of  their  parents. 

Chinese  toys  embrace  only  those  which  involve  no  intri- 
cate scientific  principles.  The  music  boxes  of  the  West  are 
unknown  in  China  except  as  they  are  imported.  The 
Chinese  know  nothing  about  dolls  which  open  and  shut 
their  eyes,  simple  as  this  principle  is,  nor  of  toys  which  are 
self-propelling  by  some  mysterious  spring  secreted  within, 
because,  forsooth,  they  know  nothing  about  making  the 
spring. 

There  are  some  principles,  however,  which,  though  they 

may  not  understand,  they  are  nevertheless  able  to  utilize; 

such,  for  instance,  as  the  expansion  of  air  by  heat,  and  the 

101 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


creation  of  air  currents.  This  principle  is  utilized  in  lan- 
terns. In  the  top  of  these  is  a paper  wheel  attached  to  a 
cross-bar  on  the  ends  of  which  are  suspended  paper  men 
and  women  together  with  animals  of  all  kinds  making  a 
very  interesting  merry-go-round.  These  lantern-figures 
correspond  to  the  sawyers,  borers,  blacksmiths,  washers 
and  others  which  twenty  or  more  years  ago  were  on  top  of 
the  stove  of  every  corner  grocery  or  country  post-office. 

When  we  began  the  study  of  Chinese  toys  our  first  move 
was  to  call  in  a Chinese  friend  whom  we  thought  we  could 
trust,  and  who  could  buy  toys  at  a very  reasonable  rate, 
and  sent  him  out  to  purchase  specimens  of  every  variety  of 
toys  he  could  find  in  the  city  of  Peking.  We  ordered  him 
the  first  day  to  buy  nothing  but  rattles,  because  the  rattle 
is  the  first  toy  that  attracts  the  attention  of  the  child. 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Hsin  returned  with  a good-sized 
basket  full  of  rattles.  Some  were  tin  in  the  form  of  small 
cylinders,  with  handles  in  which  were  small  pebbles:  others 
were  shaped  like  pails;  and  others  like  cooking  pots  and 
pans. 

Some  of  the  most  attractive  were  hollow  wood  balls, 
baskets,  pails  and  bottles,  gorgeously  painted,  with  long 
handles,  necks,  or  bails.  The  paint  was  soon  transferred 
from  the  face  of  the  toy  to  that  of  the  first  child  that  hap- 
pened to  play  with  it,  which  child  was  of  course,  our  own 
little  girl. 

The  most  common  rattles  representing  various  kinds  of 
fowls  and  animals  known  and  unknown  are  made  of  clay. 

Others  are  in  the  form  of  fat  little  priests  that  make  one 

102 


TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 


think  of  Santa  Claus,  or  little  roly-poly  children  that  look 
like  the  little  folks  who  play  with  them. 

As  the  child  grows  larger  the  favorite  rattle  is  a drum- 
shaped piece  of  bamboo  or  other  wood,  with  skin — not  in- 
frequently fish  skin,  stretched  over  the  two  ends,  and  a long 
handle  attached.  On  the  sides  are  two  stout  strings  with 
beads  on  the  ends,  which,  when  the  rattle  is  turned  in  the 
hand,  strike  on  the  drum  heads.  These  rattles  of  brass  or 
tin  as  well  as  bamboo,  are  in  imitation  of  those  carried  by 
street  hawkers. 

We  said  to  Mr.  Hsin,  “ Foreigners  say  the  Chinese  do  not 
have  dolls,  how  is  that  ? ” 

“They  have  lots  of  them,”  he  answered  in  the  stereo- 
typed way. 

“ Then  to-morrow  buy  samples  of  all  the  dolls  you  can 
find.” 

“All?”  he  asked  with  some  surprise. 

“ Yes,  all.  We  want  to  know  just  what  kind  of  dolls 
they  have.” 

The  next  evening  Mr.  Hsin  came  in  with  an  immense 
load  of  dolls.  He  had  large,  small,  and  middle  sized  rag  dolls, 
on  which  the  nose  was  sewed,  the  ears  pasted,  and  the 
eyes  and  other  features  painted.  They  were  rude,  but  as 
interesting  to  children  as  other  more  natural  and  more  ex- 
pensive ones,  as  we  discovered  by  giving  one  of  them  to 
our  little  girl.  In  not  a few  instances  Western  children 
have  become  much  more  firmly  attached  to  their  Chinese 
cloth  dolls  than  any  that  can  be  found  for  them  in  America 
or  Europe. 


103 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


He  had  a number  of  others  both  large  and  small  with 
papier  mache  heads,  leather  bodies,  and  clay  arms  and  legs. 
The  body  was  like  a bellows  in  which  a reed  whistle  was 
placed,  that  enabled  the  baby  to  cry  in  the  same  tone  as  the 
toy  dog  barks  or  the  cock  crows.  They  had  “real  hair”  in 
spots  on  their  head  similar  to  those  on  the  child,  and  they 
were  dressed  in  the  same  kind  of  clothing  as  that  used  on  the 
baby  in  summer-time,  viz.,  a chest-protector  and  a pair  of 
shoes  or  trousers. 


Mr.  Hsin  then  took  out  a small  package  in  which  was 
wrapped  a half-dozen  or  more  “little  people,”  as  they  are 
called,  by  the  Chinese,  with  paper  heads,  hands  and  feet, 
exquisitely  painted,  and  their  clothing  of  the  finest  silk. 
Attached  to  the  head  of  each  was  a silk  string  by  which  the 
“little  people”  are  hung  upon  the  wall  as  a decoration. 

“ But  what  are  these,  Mr.  Hsin  ?”  we  asked.  “ These  are 
not  dolls.” 

“No,”  he  answered,  “these  are  cloth  animals.  The 

104 


TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 


children  play  with  these  at 
the  same  time  they  play  with 
dolls.” 

He  had  gone  beyond  our  in- 
structions. He  had  brought 
us  a large  collection  of  camels 
made  of  cloth  the  color  of 
the  camel’s  skin,  with  little 
bunches  of  hair  on  the  head, 
neck,  hump  and  the  joints  of 
the  legs,  similar  to  those  on  the 
camel  when  it  is  shedding  its 
coat  in  the  springtime.  He  had 
elephants  made  of  a grayish  kind  of  cloth  on  which  were 
harnesses  similar  to  those  supposed  to  be  necessary  for  those 
animals.  He  had  bears  with  bits  of  hair  on  neck  and  tail 
and  a leading  string  in  the  nose;  horses  painted  with  spots 
of  white  and  red,  matched  only  by  the  most  remarkable 
animals  in  a circus;  monkeys  with  black  beads  for  eyes,  and 
long  tails;  lions,  tigers,  and  leopards,  with  large,  savage, 
black,  glass  eyes,  with  manes  or  tails  suited  to  each,  and 
properly  crooked  by  a wire  extending  to  the  tip.  And 
finally  he  laid  the  bogi-boo,  a nondescript  with  a head  on 
each  end  much  like  the  head  of  a lion  or  tiger.  When  not 
used  as  a plaything,  this  served  the  purpose  of  a pillow. 

“Do  the  Chinese  have  no  other  kinds  of  toy  animals?” 
we  inquired. 

“ Yes,”  he  answered,  “ I’ll  bring  them  to-morrow.” 

The  following  evening  he  brought  us  a collection  of  clay 

105 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


toys  too  extensive  to 
enumerate.  There 
were  horses,  cows, 
camels,  mules,  deer, 
and  a host  of  others 
the  original  of  which 
has  never  been  found 
except  in  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  people. 
He  had  women  riding 
donkeys  followed  by 
drivers,  men  riding 
horses  and  shooting 
or  throwing  a spear 
at  a fleeing  tiger,  and 


women  with  babies  in  their 
arms  while  grandmother 
amused  them  with  rattles,  and 
father  lay  near  by  smoking  an 
opium  pipe. 

From  the  bottom  of  his 

basket  he  brought  forth  a 

number  of  small  packages. 

“ What  are  in  those  ? ” 

“These  are  clay  insects.” 

They  were  among  the  best 

clay  work  we  have  seen  in 

China.  There  were  tumble- 

bugs,  grasshoppers,  large 
106 


TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 


beetles,  mantis,  praying  mantis,  toads  and  scorpions,  to- 
gether with  others  never  seen  outside  of  China,  and  some 
never  *een  at  all,  the  legs  and  feelers  all  being  made  of  wire. 

In  another  package  he  had  a dozen  dancing  dolls.  They 
were  made  of  clay,  were  an  inch  and  a half  long,  dressed 
with  paper,  and  had  small  wires  protruding  the  sixteenth  of 
an  inch  below  the  bottom  of  the  skirt.  He  put  them  all  on 
a brass  tray,  the  edge  of  which  he  struck  with  a small  stick 
to  make  it  vibrate,  thus  causing  the  dancers  to  turn  round 
and  round  in  every  direction. 


The  next  package  contained  a number  of  clay  beggars. 
Two  were  fighting,  one  about  to  smash  his  clay  pot  over 
the  other’s  head:  another  had  his  pot  on  his  head  for  a lark, 
a third  was  eating  from  his,  while  others  were  carrying#theirs 
in  their  hand.  One  had  a sore  leg  to  which  he  called  atten- 
tion with  open  mouth  and  pain  expressed  in  every  feature. 

From  another  package  he  brought  out  a number  of 
jumping  jacks,  imitations  as  it  seemed  of  things  Japanese. 
There  were  monkey  acrobats  made  of  clay,  wire  and  skin, 
fastened  to  a small  slip  of  bamboo.  A doll  fastened  to  a 
stick,  with  cymbals  in  its  hands  would  clash  the  cymbals, 
when  its  queue  was  pulled.  Finally  there  was  a large 

dragon  which  satisfied  its  raging  appetite  by  feeding  upon 

107 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


two  or  three  little 
clay  men  specially 
prepared  for  his 
consumption. 

But,  perhaps, 
among  the  most 
interesting  of  his 
toys  were  his  clay 
whistles.  Some  of 
these  burnt  or  sun- 
dried  toys  were 
hollow  and  in  the 
shape  of  birds, 
beasts  and  insects. 
When  blown  into, 
they  would  emit 
the  shrillest  kind  of  a whistle.  In  others  a reed  whistle 
had  been  placed  similar  to  those  in  the  dolls,  and  these 
usually  had  a bellows  to  blow  them.  Whether  cock  or  hen, 
dog  or  child,  they  all  crowed,  barked,  cackled,  or  cried  in 
the  self-same  tone. 

“ What  will  you  get  to-morrow  ?” 

“Drums,  knives,  and  tops,”  said  Mr.  Hsin.  He  was 
being  paid  by  the  day  for  spending  our  money,  and  so  had 
his  plans  well  laid. 

The  following  evening  he  brought  a large  collection  of 

toy  drums,  some  of  which  were  in  the  shape  of  a barrel,  both 

in  their  length  and  in  being  bulged  out  at  the  middle.  On 

the  ends  were  painted  gay  pictures  of  men  and  women  clad 

108 


TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 


in  battle  array  or  festive  garments,  making  the  drum  a work 
of  art  as  well  as  an  instrument  of  torture  to  those  who  are 
disturbed  by  noises  about  the  house. 

He  had  large  knives  covered  with  bright  paint  which 
could  easily  be  washed  off,  and  tridents,  with  loose  plates 
or  cymbals,  which  make  a noise  to  frighten  the  enemy. 

The  tops  Mr.  Hsin  had  collected  were  by  far  the  most 
interesting.  Chinese  tops  are  second  to  none  made.  They 
are  simple,  being  made  of  bamboo,  are  spun  with  a string, 
and  when  properly  operated  emit  a shrill  whistle. 

The  ice  top,  without  a stem,  and  simply  a block  of  wood 
in  shape  of  a top,  is  spun  with  a string,  but  is  kept  going 
by  whipping. 

Another  toy  which  foreigners  call  a top  is  entirely  differ- 
ent from  anything  we  see  in  the  West.  The  Chinese  call  it 
a K'ling  chung , while  the  top  is  called  t'o  lo.  It  is  con« 
structed  of  two  pieces  of  bamboo,  each  of  which  is  made 
like  a top,  and  then  joined  by  a carefully  turned  axle,  each 
end  being  of  equal  weight,  and  looking  not  unlike  the 
wheels  of  a cart.  It  is  then  spun  by  a string,  which  is 


109 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


wound  once  around  the  axle  and  attached  to  two  sticks. 
A good  performer  is  able  to  spin  it  in  a great  variety  of 
ways,  tossing  it  under  and  over  his  foot,  spinning  it  with 
the  sticks  behind  him,  and  at  times  throwing  it  up  into  the 
air  twenty  or  thirty  feet  and  catching  it  as  it  comes  down. 
The  principle  upon  which  it  is  operated  is  the  quick  jerking 
of  one  of  the  sticks  while  the  other  is' allowed  to  be  loose. 

“To-morrow,”  said  Mr.  Hsin,  as  he  ceased  spinning  the 
top,  “ I will  get  you  some  toy  carts.” 

The  Chinese  cart  has  been  described  as  a Saratoga  trunk 
on  two  wheels.  This  is,  however,  only  one  form — that  of 
the  passenger  cart.  There  are  many  others,  and  all  of  them 
are  used  as  patterns  of  toy  carts.  They  all  have  a kind  of 
music-box  attachment,  operated  by  the  turning  of  the  axle 
to  which  the  wheels  of  the  toys,  as  well  as  those  of  some  of 
the  real  carts,  are  fixed. 

The  toy  carts  are  made  of  tin,  wood  and  clay.  Some  of 
them  are  very  simple,  having  paper  covers,  while  others 
possess  the  whole  paraphernalia  of  the  street  carts.  When 
the  mule  of  the  toy  cart  is  unhitched  and  unharnessed,  he 
looks  like  a very  respectable  mule.  Nevertheless,  instead  of 
devouring  food,  he  becomes  the  prey  of  insects.  Usually 
he  appears  the  second  season,  if  he  lasts  that  long,  bereft  of 
mane  and  tail,  as  well  as  a large  portion  of  his  skin. 

The  flat  carts  have  a revolving  peg  sticking  up  through 
the  centre,  on  which  a small  clay  image  is  placed  which 
turns  with  the  stick.  Others  are  placed  on  wires  on  the 
two  sides,  to  represent  the  driver  and  the  passengers. 

These  in  Peking  are  the  omnibus  carts.  Running  from  the 

no 


TOYS  CHILDREN  PLAY  WITH 


east  gate  of  the  Imperial  city  to  the  front  gate,  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  city  as  well,  there  are  street  carts  corresponding 
to  the  omnibus  or  street  cars  of  the  West.  These  start  at 
intervals  of  ten  minutes,  more  or  less,  with  eight  or  ten 
persons  on  a cart,  the  fare  being  only  a few  cash.  Toy 
carts  of  this  kind  have  six  or  eight  clay  images  to  represent 
the  passengers. 

Mr.  Hsin  brought  out  from  the  bottom  of  his  basket  a 
number  of  neatly  made  little  pug  dogs,  and  pressing  upon  a 
bellows  in  their  body  caused  them  to  bark,  just  as  the  hen 
cackled  a few  days  before. 

What  we  have  described  formed  only  a small  portion  of 

the  toys  Mr.  Hsin  brought.  Cheap  clay  toys  of  all  kinds 

are  hawked  about  the  street  by  a man  who  sells  them  at  a 

fifth  or  a tenth  of  a cent  apiece.  With  him  is  often  found 

ill 


I 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


a candy-blower,  who  with  a reed  and  a bowl  of  taffy- 
candy  is  ready  to  blow  a man,  a chicken,  a horse  and  cart, 
a corn  ear,  or  anything  else  the  child  wants,  as  a glass- 
blower  would  blow  a bottle  or  a lamp  chimney.  The  child 
plays  with  his  prize  until  he  tires  of  it  and  then  he  eats  it. 


112 


HAPPY  FAMILY. 


“HOW  OLD  IS  MY  BABY?” 


BLOCK  GAMES— KINDERGARTEN 

It  was  on  a bright  spring  afternoon  that  a Chinese  offi- 
cial and  his  little  boy  called  at  our  home  on  Filial  Piety  Lane, 
in  Peking.’ 

The  dresses  of  father  and  child  were  exactly  alike — as 
though  they  had  been  twins,  boots  of  black  velvet  or  satin, 
blue  silk  trousers,  a long  blue  silk  garment,  a waistcoat  of 
blue  brocade,  and  a black  satin  skullcap — the  child  was  in 
every  respect,  even  to  the  dignity  of  his  bearing,  a vest- 
pocket  edition  of  his  father. 

He  had  a T’ao  of  books  which  I recognized  as  the  Fifteen 
Magic  Blocks,  one  of  the  most  ingenious,  if  not  the  most 
remarkable,  books  I have  ever  seen. 

A T’ao  is  two  or  any  number  of  volumes  of  a book 

wrapped  in  a single  cover.  In  this  case  it  was  two  volumes. 

115 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


In  the  inside  of 
was  a depres- 
square  in  which 
of  lead,  wood 
divided  into  fif- 
the  following 
These  blocks 
one, 


the  cover  there 
sion  three  inches 
was  kept  a piece 
or  pasteboard, 
teen  pieces  as  in 
illustration, 
are  all  in  pairs 

except  one,  which  is  rhom- 

boid. They  are  all  exactly  proportional,  having  their  sides 
either  half-inch,  inch,  inch  and  a half,  or  two  inches  in 
length. 


They  are  not  used  as  are  the  blocks  in  our  kindergarten 
simply  to  make  geometrical  figures,  but  rather  to  illustrate 
such  facts  of  history  as  will  have  a moral  influence,  or  be  an 
intellectual  stimulus  to  the  child. 

He  may  build  houses  with  them,  or  make  such  ancient  or 
modern  ornaments,  or  household  utensils,  as  may  suit  his 
fancy;  but  the  primary  object  of  the  blocks  and  the  books, 
is  to  impress  upon  the  child’s  mind,  in  the  most  forcible 
way  possible,  the  leading  facts  of  history,  poetry,  mythology 
or  morals;  while  the  houses,  boats  and  other  things  are 
simply  side  issues. 

The  first  illustration  the  child  constructed  for  me,  for  I 

desired  him  to  teach  me  how 

it  was  done,  was  a dragon 

horse,  and  when  I asked  him 

to  explain  it,  he  said  that  it 

represented  the  animal  seen  by 

Fu  Hsi,  the  original  ancestor 

116 


BLOCK  GAMES-KINDERGARTEN 


of  the  Chinese  people,  emerging  from  the  Meng  river,  bearing 
upon  its  back  a map  on  which  were  fifty-five  spots,  repre- 
senting the  male  and  female  principles  of  nature,  and  which 
the  sage  used  to  construct  what  are  called  the  eight  diagrams. 

The  child  tossed  the  blocks  off  into  a pile  and  then  con- 
structed a tortoise  which  he  said 
was  seen  by  Yu,  the  Chinese  Noah, 
coming  out  of  the  Lo  river,  while 
he  was  draining  off  the  floods.  On 
its  back  was  a design  which  he  used  as  a pattern  for  the 
nine  divisions  of  his  empire. 

These  two  incidents  are  referred  to  by  Confucius,  and 
are  among  the  first  learned  by  every  Chinese  child. 

I looked  through  the  book  and  noticed  that  many  of  the 
designs  were  for  the  amusement  of  the  children,  as  well 
as  to  develop  their  ingenuity.  In  the  two  volumes  of  the 
T’ao  he  had  only  the  outlines  of  the  pictures  which  he 
readily  constructed  with  the  blocks.  But  he  had  with  him 
also  a small  volume  which  was  a key  to  the  designs  having 
lines  indicating  how  each  block  was  placed.  This  he  had 
purchased  for  a few  cash.  Much  of  the  interest  of  the  book, 
however,  attached  to  the  puzzling  character  of  the  pictures. 

There  was  one  with  a verse  attached  somewhat  like  the 
following: 

The  old  wife  drew  a chess-board 

On  the  cover  of  a book, 

While  the  child  transformed  a 
needle 

Into  a fishing-hook. 


117 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Chinese  literature  is  full  of  examples  of  men  and  women 
who  applied  themselves  to  their  books  with  untiring  dili- 
gence. Some  tied  their  hair  to  the  beam  of  their  humble 
cottage  so  that  when  they  nodded  with  sleepiness  the  jerk 
would  awake  them  and  they  might  return  to  their  books. 

Others  slept  upon  globular  pillows  that  when  they  be- 
came so  restless  as  to  move  and  cause  the  pillow  to  roll 
from  under  their  head  they  might  get  up  and  study. 

The  child  once  more  took  the  blocks  and  illustrated  how 
one  who  was-  so  poor  as  to  be  unable 
to  furnish  himself  with  candles,  con- 
fined a fire-fly  in  a gauze  lantern  using 
that  instead  of  a lamp.  At  the  same 
time  he  explained  that  another  who 
was  perhaps  not  able  to  afford  the 
gauze  lantern,  studied  by  the  light  of  a glowworm. 

“ K’ang  Heng,”  said  the  child, 
as  he  put  the  blocks  together  in  a 
new  form,  “ had  a still  better  way, 
as  well  as  more  economical.  His 
house  was  built  of  clay,  and  as  the 
window  of  his  neighbor’s  house 
was  immediately  opposite,  he 
chiseled  a hole  through  his.  wall  and  thus  took  advantage  of 
his  neighbor’s  light. 

“Sun  Kang’s  method  was 

very  good  for  winter,”  continued 

the  child  as  he  rearranged  the 

blocks,  “but  I do  not  know 

118 


BLOCK  GAMES-KINDERGARTEN 


what  he  would  do  in  summer.  He 
studied  by  the  light  reflected  from 
the  snow. 

“Perhaps,”  he  went  on  as  he 
changed  the  form,  “ he  followed 
the  example  of  another  who  studied 
by  the  pale  light  of  the  moon.” 
“What  does  that  represent?”  I 
asked  him  pointing  to  a child  with  a bowl  in  his  hand  who 
looked  as  if  he  might  have  been  going  to  the  grocer’s. 

“Oh,  that  boy  is  going  to  buy  wine.” 

The  Chinese  have  never  yet  realized  what  a national  evil 
liquor  may  become.  They  have  little  wine  shops  in  the 
great  cities,  but  they  have  nc  drinking  houses  corresponding 
to  the  saloon,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  a child  going 
to  the  wine  shop  to  fetch  a bowl  of  wine.  The  Buddhist 
priest  indulges  with  the  same  moderation  as  the  official  class 
or  gentry.  Indeed  most  of  the  drunkenness  we  read  about 
in  Chinese  books  is  that  of  poets  and  philosophers,  and  in 
them  it  is,  if  not  commended,  at  least  not  condemned. 
1 he  attitude  of  literature  towards  them  is  much  like  that  of 
Thackeray  towards  the  gentlemen 
of  his  day. 

The  child  constructed  the  picture 
of  a Buddhist  priest,  who,  with 
staff  in  hand,  and  a mug  of  wine, 
was  viewing  the  beautiful  moun- 
tains in  the  distance.  He  then 

changed  it  to  one  in  which  an  intox- 

119 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


icated  man  was  leaning  on  a boy’s 
shoulder,  the  inscription  to  which 
said  : “ Any  one  is  willing  to  assist  a 
drunken  man  to  return  home.” 

“This,”  he  went  on  as  he  changed 
his  blocks,  “is  a picture  of  Li  Pei, 

China's  greatest  poet.  He  lived  more  than  a thousand  years 
ago.  This  represents  the  closing  scene  in  his  life.  He 
was  crossing  the  river  in  a boat,  and  in  a drunken  effort  to 
get  the  moon’s  reflection  from  the  water,  he  fell  overboard 
and  was  drowned.”  The  child  pointed  to  the  sail  at  the 

same  time,  repeating  the  fol- 
lowing: 

The  sail  being  set, 

He  tried  to  get, 

The  moon  from  out  the  main. 

I noticed  a large  number  of  boat  scenes  and  induced  the 
child  to  construct  some  of  them  for  me,  which  he  was  quite 
willing  to  do,  explaining  them  as  he  went  as  readily  as  our 
children  would  explain  Old  Mother  Hubbard  or  the  Old 
Woman  who  lived  in  her  shoe,  by  seeing  the  illustrations. 

Constructing  one  he  repeated 
a verse  somewhat  like  the  fol- 
lowing: 

Alone  the  fisherman  sat, 

In  his  boat  by  the  river’s  brink, 

In  the  chill  and  cold  and  snow, 

To  fish,  and  fish,  and  think. 

120 


BLOCK  GAMES-KINDERGARTEN 


Then  he  turned  over  to  two  on  opposite  pages,  and  as  he 
constructed  them  he  repeated  in  turn: 

In  a stream  ten  thousand  li  in  length 
He  bathes  his  feet  at  night, 

While  on  a mount  he  waves  his  arms, 

Ten  thousand  feet  in  height. 


£ 

The  ten  thousand  li  in  one  couplet  corresponds  to  the 
ten  thousand  feet  in  the  other,  while  the  bathing  of  the 
feet  corresponds  to  the  waving  of  the  arms.  Couplets  of 
this  kind  are  always  attractive  to  the  Chinese  child  as  well 
as  to  the  scholar,  and  poems  and  essays  are  replete  with 
such  constructions. 

The  child  enjoyed  making  the  pictures.  I tried  to  make 
one,  but  found  it  very  difficult.  I was  not  familiar  with  the 
blocks.  It  is  different  now,  I have  learned  how  to  make 
them.  Then  it  seemed  as  if  it  would  be  impossible  ever  to 
do  so.  When  I had  failed  to  make  the  picture  I turned  them 
over  to  him.  In  a moment  it  was  done. 

“ Who  is  it  ?”  I asked. 


121 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


hands  behind  his  back  lost 
near  with  the  bag.” 


“Chang  Ch’i,  the  poet,”  he 
answered.  “Whenever  he 
went  for  a walk  he  took  with 
him  a child  who  carried  a bag 
in  which  to  put  the  poems  he 
happened  to  write.  In  this 
illustration  he  stands  with  his 
head  bent  forward  and  his 
in  thought,  while  the  lad  stands 


We  have  given  in  another  chapter  the  story  of  the  great 
traveller, Chang  - Ch’ien,  and  his 

search  for  the  V^|  source  °f 

Yellow  River.  1 J one 

illustrations  the  x child  repre- 
sented him  in  his  boat  a 

way  not  very  different  from 

that  of  the  artist. 

Another  quotation  from  one  of  the  poets  was  illustrated 
as  follows: 


Last  night  a meeting  I ar- 
ranged, 

Ere  I my  lamp  did  light, 

Nor  while  I crossed  the  ferry 
feared, 

Or  wind  or  rain  or  night. 


The  child’s  eyes  sparkled  as  he  turned  to  some  of  those 

illustrating  children  at  play,  and  as  he  constructed  one  which 

122 


BLOCK  GAMES-KINDERGARTEN 


represents  two  children  swinging  their  arms  and  running, 
he  repeated : 

See  the  children  at  their 
play, 

Gathering  flowers  by  the 
way. 

“They  are  gathering 
pussy-willows,”  he  added. 

In  another  he  represented  a child  standing  before  the 
front  gate,  where  he  had  knocked  in  vain  to  gain  admis- 
sion. As  he  completed  it  he  said,  pointing  to  the  apricot 
over  the  door: 

Ten  times  he  knocked  upon  the  gate, 
But  nine,  they  opened  not, 

Above  the  wall  he  plainly  saw, 

A ripe,  red  apricot. 

He  continued  to  represent  quota- 
tions from  the  poets  and  explain 

them  as  he  went  along. 

There  was  one  which  indicated  that  some  one  was  ascend- 
ing the  steps  to  the  jade  platform  on  which  the  dust  had  settled 
as  it  does  on  everything  in  Peking;  at  the  same  time  the 
verse  told  us  that  O 

Step  by  step  we  reach  the  plat- 
form, 

All  of  jade  of  purest  green, 

Call  a child  to  come  and  sweep  it, 

But  he  cannot  sweep  it  clean. 

123 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


“ You  know,”  he  went  on,  “the  cottages  of  many  of  the 
poets  were  near  the  beautiful  lakes  in  central  China,  in  the 
wild  heights  of  the  mountains,  or  upon  the  banks  of  some 
flowing  stream.  In  this  one  the  pavilion  of  the  poet  is  on 
the  bank  of  the  river,  and  we  are  told  that, 

In  his  cottage  sat  the  poet, 

Thinking,  as  the  moon  went  by, 
That  the  moonlight  on  the  water, 
Made  the  water  like  the  sky.” 

Changing  it  somewhat  he  made  a 
cottage  of  a different  kind.  This  was 
not  made  for  the  picture’s  sake,  but  to  illustrate  a sentence  it 
was  designed  to  impress  upon  the  child’s  mind.  The  quota- 
tion is  somewhat  as  follows: 

The  ringing  of  the  evening  bells, 

The  moon  a crescent  splendid, 

The  rustling  of  the  swallow’s 
wings 

Betoken  winter  ended. 

The  child  looked  up  at  me  significantly  as  he  turned  to 

one  which  represented  a Buddhist 
priest.  I expected  something  of  a 
joke  at  the  priest’s  expense  as  in 
the  nursery  rhymes  and  games,  but 
there  was  none.  That  would  in- 
jure the  sale  of  the  book.  The 

inscription  told  us  that  “a  Buddhist 
124 


BLOCK  GAMES-KINDERGARTEN 


lantern  will  reflect  light  enough  to  illuminate  the  whole 
universe.” 

Turning  to  the  next  page  we  found  a priest  sitting  in 
front  of  the  temple  in  the  act  of  beating  his  wooden  drum, 
while  the  poet  exclaims: 

O crystal  pool  and  silvery  moon, 

So  clear  and  pure  thou  art, 

There’s  nought  to  which  thou  wilt 
compare 

Except  a Buddha’s  heart. 

The  child  next  directed  our  atten- 
tion to  various  kinds  of  flowers,  more 
especially  the  marigold.  A man  in  a 
boat  rows  with  one  hand  while  he  points  backward  to  the 
blossoming  marigold,  while  in  another  picture  the  poet  tells 
us  that, 

Along  the  eastern  wall, 

We  pluck  the  marigold, 
While  on  the  south  horizon, 
The  mountain  we  behold. 

“What  is  that?”  I asked  as 
he  turned  to  a picture  of  an  old 

man  riding  on  a cow. 

“That  is  Laotze  the  founder  of 
Taoism,  crossing  the  frontier  at  the 
Han  Ku  Pass  between  Shansi  and 
Shensi,  riding  upon  a cow.  No- 
body knows  where  he  went.” 

There  were  other  pictures  of 

125 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Taoist  patriarchs  keeping  sheep.  By  their  magic  power 
they  turned  the  sheep  into  stones  when  they  were  tired 
watching  them,  and  again ’the  inscriptions  told  us,  “the 
stones  became  sheep  at  his  call.”  Still  others  represented 
them  in  search  of  the  elixir  of  life,  while  in  others  they 
were  riding  on  a snail. 

The  object  of  thus  bringing  in  incidents  from  all  these  Bud- 
dhist, Taoist,  Confucian,  and  other  sources  is  that  by  catering 
to  all  classes  the  book  may  have  wide  distribution,  and  what- 
ever the  Confucianist  may  say,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
other  religions  have  a strong  hold  upon  the  popular  mind. 

The  last  twenty-six  illustrations  in  Vol.  I represent  various 
V \ incidents  in  the  life,  history  and  em- 
ployments of  women. 

The  first  of  these  is  an  ancient 
empress  “ weaving  at  night  by  her 
palace  window.” 

Another  represents  a woman  in 
her  boat  and  we  are  told  that,  “ leaving  her  oar  she  leisurely 
sang  a song  entitled,  ‘ Plucking  the  Caltrops.’  ” 

Another  represents  a woman 
“wearing  a pomegranate-colored 
dress  riding  a pear-blossom  colored 
horse.”  A peculiar  combination  to 
say  the  least. 

The  fisherman’s  wife  is  repre- 
sented in  her  boat,  “making  her 
toilet  at  dawn  using  the  water  as  a mirror.”  While  we 

assured  also  that  the  woman  sitting  upon  her  veranda 

126 


are 


BLOCK  GAMES-KINDERGARTEN 


“ finds  it  very  difficult  to  thread  her  needle  by  the  pale  Light 
of  the  moon,”  which  fact,  few,  I think,  would  question. 

In  one  of  the  pictures  “a  beautiful  maiden,  in  the  bright 
moonlight,  came  beneath  the  trees.”  This  is  evidently  con- 
trary to  Chinese  ^ ideas  of  propriety, 

for  the  Classic  for  CT\  / girls  tells  us  that  a 

maiden  should  not  go  out  at  ™ght  ex~ 

cept  in  company  ■“  7 with  a servant 

oearing  a lantern.  ) ■ As  it  was  bright 

moonlight,  how-  y S pv  ever,  let  us  hope 

she  was  excusable,  v ^ N 

This  sauntering  about  in  the  court  is  not  uncommon  if 
we  believe  what  the  books  say,  for  in  the  next  picture  we 
are  told  that:  ^ 

As  near  the  middle  summer-house, 

The  maiden  sauntered  by, 

Upon  the  jade  pin  in  her  hair 
There  lit  a dragon-fly. 

The  next  illustration  represented 
the  wife  of  the  famous  poet  Ssu-Ma  Hsiang-Ju  in  her  hus- 
band’s wine  shop. 


127 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


This  poet  fell  in  love  with  the 
widowed  daughter  of  a wealthy  mer- 
chant, the  result  of  which  was  that 
the  young  couple  eloped  and  were 
married;  and  as  the  daughter  was 
disinherited  by  her  irate  parent,  she 
was  compelled  to  wait  on  customers 
in  her  husband’s  wine  shop,  which 
she  did  without  complaint.  In  spite  of  their  imprudent 
conduct,  and  for  the  time,  its  unhappy  results,  as  soon  as 
the  poet  had  become  so  famous  as  to  be  summoned  to 
court,  the  stern  father  relented,  and,  as  it  was  a case  of 
undoubted  affection,  which  the  Chinese  readily  appreciate, 
they  have  always  had  the  sympathy  of  the  whole  Chinese 
people. 


One  of  the  most  popular  women 
in  Chinese  history  is  Mu  Lan,  the 
Chinese  Joan  of  Arc.  Her  father,  a 
great  general,  being  too  old  to  take 
charge  of  his  troops,  and  her  broth- 
ers too  young,  she  dressed  herself 
in  boy’s  clothing,  enrolled  herself 
in  the  army,  mounted  her  father’s  trusty  steed,  and  led  his 
soldiers  to  battle,  thus  bringing  honor  to  herself  and  renown 
upon  her  family. 

We  have  already  seen  how  diligent  some  of  the  ancient 
worthies  were  in  their  study.  This,  however,  is  not  uni- 
versal, for  we  are  told  the  mother  of  Liu  Kung-cho,  in 
order  to  stimulate  her  son  to  study  took  pills  made  of  bear’s 


128 


BLOCK  GAMES-KINDERGARTEN 


gall  and  bitter  herbs,  to  show  her  sym- 
pathy with  her  boy  and  lead  him  to 
feel  that  she  was  willing  to  endure 
bitterness  as  well  as  he. 

The  last  of  these  examples  of  noble 
women  is  that  of  the  wife  of  Liang 
Hung,  a poor  philosopher  of  some 
two  thousand  years  ago.  An  effort  was  made  to  engage 
him  to  Meng  Kuang,  the  daughter  of  a rich  family,  whose 
lack  of  beauty  was  more  than  balanced  by  her  remarkable 
intelligence.  The  old  philosopher  feared  that  family  pride 
might  cause  domestic  infelicity.  The  girl  on  her  part  stead- 
fastly refused  to  marry  any  one  else,  declaring  that  unless 
she  married  Liang  Hung,  she  would  not  marry  at  all.  This 
unexpected  constancy  touched  the  old  man’s  heart  and  he 
married  her.  She  dressed  in  the 
most  common  clothing,  always  pre- 
pared his  food  with  her  own  hand, 
and  to  show  her  affection  and  re- 
spect never  presented  him  with  the 
rice-bowl  without  raising  it  to  the 
level  of  her  eyebrows,  as  in  the  illustration. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  see  some  of  the  ornaments  and 
utensils  the  child  made  with  his  blocks.  I shall  therefore 
add  three,  a pair  of  scissors,  a teapot,  and  a seal  with  a 
turtle  handle. 

Such  is  in  general  the  character  of  the  book  the  official’s 

little  boy  had  with  him.  I afterwards  secured  several  copies 

for  myself  and  learned  to  make  all  the  pictures  first  shown 

129 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


me  by  the  child,  and  I discovered  that  it  is  but  one  of 
several  forms  of  what  we  may  call  kindergarten  work,  that 
it  has  gone  through  many  editions,  and  is  very  widely  dis- 
tributed. My  own  set  contains  216  illustrations  such  as  1 
have  given. 


130 


BLIND  MAN’S  BUFF. 


THE  DKY-L, AND  BOAT  AND  DONKEY  SrTOW. 


CHILDREN’S  SHOWS  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS 

My  little  girl  came  running  into  my  study  greatly  excited 
and  exclaiming: 

“ Papa,  the  monkey  show,  the  monkey  show.  We  want 
the  monkey  show,  may  we  have  it  ? ” 

Now  if  you  had  but  one  little  girl,  and  she  wanted  a 
monkey  show  to  come  into  your  own  court  and  perform 
for  her  and  her  little  friends  for  half  an  hour,  the  cost  of 
which  was  the  modest  sum  of  five  cents,  what  would  you 
do  ? 

You  would  do  as  I did,  no  doubt,  go  out  with  the  little 
girl,  call  in  the  passing  showman  and  allow  him  to  perform, 
which  would  serve  the  triple  purpose  of  furnishing  relaxa- 
tion and  instruction  for  yourself,  entertainment  for  the 

children,  and  business  for  the  showman. 

133 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


This  however 
proved  to  be  not 
the  monkey 
show  but  Punch 
and  Judy,  a spe- 
cies of  entertain- 
ment for  chil- 
dren, the  exact 
counterpart  of 
our  own  enter- 
tainment of  that 
name.  It  may 
be  of  interest  to 
young  readers 
to  know  how 
this  show  origi- 
nated,  and  I 
doubt  not  it  will 
be  a surprise  to 
some  older  ones 
to  know  that  it 

dates  back  to  about  the  year  1000  b.  c. 

We  are  told  that  while  the  Emperor  Mu  of  the  Chou 
dynasty  was  making  a tour  of  his  empire,  a skillful  me- 
chanic, Yen  Shih  by  name,  was  brought  into  his  presence, 
and  entertained  him  and  the  women  of  his  seraglio  with  a 
dance  performed  by  automaton  figures,  which  were  capable 
not  only  of  rhythmical  movements  of  their  limbs,  but  of  ac- 
companying their  movements  with  songs. 

134 


CHILDREN’S  ENTERTAINMENTS 


During  and  at  the  close  of  the  performance,  the  puppets 
cast  such  significant  glances  at  the  ladies  as  to  anger  the 
monarch,  and  he  ordered  the  execution  of  the  originator  of 
the  play. 

The  mechanic  however  ripped  open  the  puppets,  and 
proved  to  his  astonished  majesty  that  they  were  only  arti- 
ficial objects,  and  instead  of  being  executed  he  was  allowed 
to  repeat  his  performance.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  play 
in  China  which  corresponds  to  Punch  and  Judy  in  Europe 
and  America. 

To  the  question  which  naturally  arises  as  to  how  the 
play  was  carried  to  the  West,  1 reply,  it  may  not  have  been 
carried  to  Europe  at  all,  but  have  originated  there.  From 
marked  similarities  in  the  two  plays  however,  and  more 
especially  in  the  methods  of  their  production,  we  may  sup- 
pose that  the  Chinese  Punch  and  Judy  was  carried  to  Europe 
in  the  following  way: 

Among  the  many  traders  who  visited  Central  Asia  while 
it  was  under  the  government  of  the  family  of  Genghis 
Khan,  were  two  Venetian  brothers,  Maffeo  and  Nicolo  Polo, 
whose  wondering  disposition  and  trading  interests  led  them 
as  far  as  the  court  of  the  Great  Khan,  where  they  remained 
in  the  most  intimate  relations  with  Kublai  for  some  time, 
and  were  finally  sent  back  to  Italy  with  a request  that  one 
hundred  European  scholars  be  sent  to  China  to  instruct  them 
in  the  arts  of  Europe. 

This  request  was  never  carried  out,  but  the  two  returned 

to  the  Khan's  court  with  young  Marco,  the  son  of  one  of 

them,  who  remained  with  the  Mongol  Emperor  for  seven- 

135 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


teen  years,  during  which  time  he  had  a better  opportunity 
of  observing  their  customs  than  perhaps  any  other  foreigner 
since  his  time.  His  final  return  to  Italy  was  in  1295,  and  a 
year  or  two  later,  he  wrote  and  revised  his  book  of  travels. 

The  art  of  printing  in  Europe  was  discovered  in  1438,  and 
the  first  edition  of  Marco  Polo's  travels  was  printed  about 
1 5 50-59.  Our  Punch  and  Judy  was  invented  by  Silvio 
Fiorillo  an  Italian  dramatist  before  the  year  1600.  I have 
found  no  reference  to  the  play  in  Marco  Polo’s  works, 
nevertheless,  one  cannot  but  think  that,  if  not  a written,  at 
least  an  oral,  communication  of  the  play  may  have  been 
carried  to  Europe  by  him  or  some  other  of  the  Italian 
traders  or  travellers.  The  two  plays  are  very  similar,  even 
to  the  tones  of  the  man  who  works  the  puppets. 

In  passing  the  school  court  on  one  occasion  I saw  the 
students  gathered  in  a crowd  under  the  shade  of  the  trees. 
A small  tent  was  pitched,  on  the  front  of  which  was  a little 
stage.  A manager  stood  behind  the  screen  from  which 
position  he  worked  a number  of  puppets  in  the  form  of 
men,  women,  children,  horses  and  dragons.  These  were 
suspended  by  black  threads  as  I afterwards  discovered  from 
small  sticks  or  a framework  which  the  manager  manipulated 
behind  the  screen.  When  one  finished  its  part  of  the  per- 
formance, it  either  walked  off  the  stage,  or  the  stick  was 
fastened  in  such  a way  as  to  leave  it  in  a position  conducive 
to  the  amusement  of  the  crowd.  These  were  puppet 
shows,  and  were  put  through  entire  performances  or  plays, 
the  manager  doing  the  talking  as  in  Punch  and  Judy. 

After  the . performance  several  of  the  students  passed 

136 


CHILDREN’S  ENTERTAINMENTS 


around  the  hat,  each  person  present  giving  one-fifth  or  one- 
tenth  of  a cent. 

As  I came  from  school  one  afternoon,  the  children  had 
called  in  from  the  street  a showman  with  a number  of 
trained  mice.  He  had  erected  a little  scaffolding  just  inside 
the  gateway,  at  one  side  of  which  there  was  a small  rope 
ladder,  and  this  with  the  inevitable  gong,  and  the  small  boxes 
in  which  the  mice  were  kept  constituted  his  entire  outfit. 

In  the  boxes  he  had  what  seemed  to  be  cotton  from  the 
milk-weed  which  furnished  a nest  for  the  mice.  These  he 
took  from  their  little  boxes  one  by  one,  stroked  them 
tenderly,  while  he  explained  what  this  particular  mouse 
would  do,  put  each  one  on  the  rope  ladder,  which  they  as- 
cended, and  performed  the  tricks  expected  of  them.  These 
were  going  through  a pagoda,  drawing  water,  creeping 

through  a tube,  wearing  a criminal’s  collar,  turning  a tread- 

137 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


mill,  or  work- 
ing some  other 
equally  simple 
trick. 

At  times  the 
mice  had  to  be 
directed  by  a 
small  stick  in 
the  hands  of  the 
manager,  but 
they  were  care- 
fully trained, 

kindly  treated, 
and  much  ap- 
preciated by  the 
children. 

Although  less 
attractive,  there 
is  no  other  show 
which  impresses  itself  so  forcibly  on  the  child’s  mind  as  the 
monkey,  dog  and  sheep  show. 

The  dog  was  the  first  to  perform.  Four  hoops  were 
placed  on  the  corners  of  a square,  ten  feet  apart.  The  dog 
walked  around  through  these  hoops,  first  through  each  in 
order,  then  turning  went  through  each  twice,  then  through 
one  and  retracing  his  steps  went  through  the  one  last  passed 
through. 

The  showman  drove  an  iron  peg  in  the  ground  on  which 

were  two  blocks  representing  millstones.  To  the  upper 

138 


CHILDREN  S ENTERTAINMENTS 


one  was  a lever  by  which  the  dog  with  his  nose  turned  the 
top  millstone  as  if  grinding  flour.  He  was  hitched  to  a 
wheelbarrow,  the  handles  of  which  were  held  by  the 
monkey,  who  pushed  while  the  dog  pulled. 

The  most  interesting  part  of  the  performance,  however, 
was  by  the  monkey.  Various  kinds  of  hats  and  false  faces 
were  kept  in  a box  which  he  opened  and  secured.  He 
stalked  about  with  a cane  in  his  hand,  or  crosswise  back  of 
his  neck,  turned  handsprings,  went  through  various  trapeze 
performances,  such  as  hanging  by  his  legs,  tail,  chin,  and 
hands,  or  was  whirled  around  in  the  air. 

The  leading  strap  of  the  monkey  was  finally  tied  to  the 

belt  of  the  sheep  which  was  led  away  to  some  distance  and 

let  go.  The  monkey  bounded  upon  its  back  and  held  fast 

to  the  wool,  while  the  sheep  ran  with  all  its  speed  to  the 

showman,  who  held  a basin  of  broom-corn  seed  as  a bait. 

This  was  repeated  as  often  as  the  children  desired,  which 

139 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


ended  the  show.  Time, — half  an  hour;  spectators, — all  who 
desired  to  witness  it;  price, — five  cents. 

The  showmen  in  China  are  somewhat  like  the  tramps  and 
beggars  in  other  countries.  When  they  find  a place  where 
there  are  children  who  enjoy  shows,  each  tells  the  other,  and 
they  all- call  around  in  turn. 

Our  next  show  was  an  exhibition  given  by  a man  with  a 
trained  bear. 

The  animal  had  two  rings  in  his  nose,  to  one  of  which 
was  fastened  a leading  string  or  strap,  and  to  the  other, 

while  perform- 
ing, a large 
chain.  A man 
stood  on  one  end 
of  the  chain,  and 
the  manager, 
with  a long- 
handled  ladle,  or 
with  his  hand, 
gave  the  bear 
small  pieces  of 
bread  or  other 
food  after  each 
trick  he  per- 
formed. 

The  first  trick 
was  walking  on 
his  hind  feet  as 
if  dancing.  But 


140 


CHILDREN’S  ENTERTAINMENTS 


more  amusing  than  this  to  the  children  was  to  see  him  turn 
summersaults  both  forward  and  backward.  These  were 
repeated  several  times  because  they  were  easily  done,  and 
added  to  the  length  of  time  the  show  continued. 

Children,  however,  begin  to  appreciate  at  an  early  age  what 
is  difficult  and  what  easy,  and  it  was  not  until  he  took  a carry- 
ing-pole six  feet  long,  put  the  middle  of  it  upon  his  forehead 
and  set  it  whirling  with  his  paws,  that  they  began  to  say: 

“That’s  good,”  “That’s  hard  to  do,”  and  other  expres- 
sions of  a like  nature. 

They  enjoyed  seeing  him  stand  on  his  front  feet,  or  on  his' 
head  with  his  hind  feet  kicking  the  air,  but  they  enjoyed 
still  more  seeing  him  put  on  the  wooden  collar  of  a convict 
and  twirl  it  around  his  neck.  The  manager  gave  him  some 
bread  and  then  tried  to  induce  him  to  take  it  off,  but  he 
whined  for  more  bread  and  refused  to  do  so.  Finally  he 
took  off  the  collar,  and  when  they  tried  to  take  it  from  him 
he  put  it  on  again.  When  he  took  it  off  the  next  time  and 
offered  it  to  them  they  refused  to  receive  it,  but  tried  to  get 
him  to  put  it  on,  which  he  stubbornly  refused  to  do,  and 
finally  threw  it  away. 

His  last  trick  was  to  sit  down  upon  his  haunches,  stick 
up  one  of  his  hind  feet,  and  twirl  a knife  six  feet  long 
upon  it  as  he  had  twirled  the  carrying-pole  upon  his  head. 
The  manager  said  he  would  wrestle  with  the  men,  but  this 
was  a side  issue  and  only  done  when  extra  money  was 
added  to  the  regular  price,  which  was  twelve  cents. 

One  of  the  most  common  showmen  seen  on  the  streets  of 

Peking,  goes  about  with  a framework  upon  his  shoulder  in 

141 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


the  shape  of  a sled,  the  runners  of  which  are  turned  up  at 
both  ends.  It  seemed  to  me  to  be  less  interesting  than  the 
other  shows,  but  as  it  is  more  common,  the  children  prob- 
ably look  upon  it  with  more  favor,  and  the  children  are  the 
final  critics  of  all  things  for  the  little  ones. 

The  show  was  given  by  a man  and  two  boys,  one  of 
whom  impersonated  a girl.  Small  feet,  like  the  bound  feet 
of  a girl,  were  strapped  on  like  stilts,  his  own  being  covered 
by  wide  trousers,  and  he  and  the  boy  sang  songs  and 
danced  to  the  music  of  the  drum  and  cymbals  in  the  hands 
of  the  showman. 


The  second  part  of  the  performance  was  a boat  ride  on 

dry  land.  The  girl  got  into  the  frame,  let  down  around  it  a 

piece  of  cloth  which  was  fastened  to  the  top,  and  took  hold 

of  the  frame  in  such  a way  as  to  carry  it  easily.  The  boy, 

with  a long  stick,  pushed  as  if  starting  the  boat,  and  then 

142 


CHILDREN  S ENTERTAINMENTS 


pulled  as  if  rowing,  and  with  every  pull  of  the  oar,  the  girl 
ran  a few  steps,  making  ?t  appear  that  the  boat  shot  for- 
ward. All  the  while  the  boy  sang  a boat-song  or  a love- 
ditty  to  his  sweetheart. 

Again  the  scene  changed.  The  head  and  hind  parts  of  a 
papier  mache  horse  were  fastened  to  the  “tomboy”  in  such 
a way  as  to  make  it  appear  that  she  was  riding;  a cloth  was 
let  down  to  hide  her  feet,  and  they  ran  to  and  fro,  one  in 
one  direction  and  the  other  in  the  other,  she  jerking  her 
unmanageable  steed,  and  he  singing  songs,  and  all  to  the 
music  of  the  drum  and  the  cymbals. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  while  the  girl  rides  the  horse, 
the  boy  goes  beside  her  in  the  boat,  the  rapidity  and  char- 
acter of  their  movements  being  governed  by  the  music  of 
the  manager. 

The  best  part  of  the  whole  performance  was  that  which 
goes  by  the  name  of  the  lion  show.  The  girl  took  off  her 
small  feet  and  girl’s  clothes  and  became  a boy  again.  One 
of  the  boys  stood  up  in  front  and  put  on  an  apron  of  woven 
grass,  while  the  other  bent  forward  and  clutched  hold  of 
his  belt.  A large  papier  mache  head  of  a lion  was  put  on 
the  front  boy,  to  which  was  attached  a covering  of  woven 
grass  large  enough  to  cover  them  both,  while  a long  tail  of 
the  same  material  was  stuck  into  a framework  fastened  to 
the  belt  of  the  hinder  boy. 

The  manager  beat  the  drum,  the  lion  stalked  about  the 
court,  keeping  step  to  the  music,  turning  its  large  head  in 
every  direction  and  opening  and  shutting  its  mouth,  much 

to  the  amusement  of  the  children. 

143 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


There  is  probably  no  country  in  the  world  that  has  more 
travelling  shows  specially  prepared  for  the  entertainment 
of  children  than  China.  Scarcely  a day  passes  that  we  do 
not  hear  the  drum  or  the  gong  of  the  showmen  going  to 
and  fro,  or  standing  at  our  court  gate  waiting  to  be  called  in. 


144 


“DOGGIE’S  GOT  A TOOTH.” 


JUVENILE  ACROBATS 


JUVENILE  JUGGLING 

“ How  is  that  ?” 

“ Very  good.” 

“Can  you  do  it?”  asked  the  sleight-of-hand  performer, 
as  he  rolled  a little  red  ball  between  his  finger  and  thumb, 
pitched  it  up,  caught  it  as  it  came  down,  half  closed  his 
hand  and  blew  into  it,  opened  his  hand  and  the  ball  had 
disappeared. 

He  picked  up  another  ball,  tossed  it  up,  caught  it  in  his 
mouth,  dropped  it  into  his  hand,  and  it  mysteriously  dis- 
appeared. 

The  juggler  was  seated  on  the  ground  with  a piece  of 
blue  cloth  spread  out  before  him,  on  which  were  three  cups, 
and  five  little  red  wax  balls  nearly  as  large  as  cranberries. 

He  continued  to  toss  the  wax  balls  about  until  they  had 

147 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


all  disappeared.  We  watched  him  closely,  but  could  not 
discover  where  they  had  gone.  He  then  arose,  took  a small 
portion  of  my  coat  sleeve  between  his  thumb  and  finger, 
began  rubbing  them  together,  and  by  and  by,  one  of  the 

balls  appeared 
between  his 
digits.  He 
picked  at  a 
small  boy’s  ear 
and  got  another 
of  the  balls. 
He  * blew  his 
nose  and  an- 
other dropped 
upon  the  cloth. 
He  slapped 
the  top  of  his 
head  and  one 
dropped  out  of 
his  mouth,  and 
he  took  the  fifth 
from  a boy’s 
hair. 

He  then  changed  his  method.  He  placed  the  cups’  mouths 
down  upon  the  cloth,  and  under  one  of  them  put  the  five 
little  balls.  When  he  placed  the  cup  we  watched  carefully; 
there  were  no  balls  under  it.  When  he  raised  it  up,  behold, 
there  were  the  five  little  balls. 

He  removed  the  cups  from  one  place  to  another,  and 

148 


JUVENILE  JUGGLING 


asked  us  to  guess  which  cup  the  balls  were  under,  but  we 
were  always  wrong. 

There  was  a large  company  of  us,  ranging  from  children 
of  three  to  old  men  and  women  of  seventy-five,  and  from 
Chinese  schoolboys  to  a bishop  of  the  church,  but  none  of 
us  could  discover  how  he  did  it. 

Later,  however,  I learned  how  the  trick  was  performed. 
As  he  raised  the  cup  with  his  thumb  and  forefinger,  he 
inserted  two  other  fingers  under,  gathered  up  all  the  balls 
between  them  and  placed  them  under  the  cup  as  he  put  it 
down.  While  in  making  the  balls  disappear,  he  concealed 
them  either  in  his  mouth  or  between  his  fingers. 

The  Chinese  have  a saying: 

In  selecting  his  balls  from  north  to  south, 

The  magician  cannot  leave  his  mouth; 

And  in  rolling  his  balls,  you  understand, 

He  must  have  them  hidden  in  his  hand. 

Of  quite  a different  character  are  the  jugglers  with  plates 
and  bowls.  Not  only  children,  but  many  of  a larger  growth 
delight  to  watch  these.  Our  only  way  of  learning  about 
them  was  to  call  them  into  our  court  as  the  Chinese  call 
them  to  theirs,  and  that  is  what  we  did. 

The  performer  first  put  a plate  on  the  top  of  a trident  and 
set  it  whirling.  In  this  whirling  condition  he  put  the  trident 
on  his  forehead  where  he  balanced  it,  the  trident  whirling 
with  the  plate  as  though  boring  into  his  skull. 

He  next  took  a bamboo  pole  six  feet  long,  with  a nail  in 

the  end  on  which  he  set  the  plate  whirling.  The  plate,  of 

149 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


course,  had  a small  indentation  to  keep  it  in  its  place  on  the 
nail.  He  raised  the  plate  in  the  air  and  inserted  into  the 
first  pole  another  of  equal  length,  then  another  and  still 
another,  which  put  the  plate  whirling  in  the  air  thirty  feet 
high. 

Thus  whirling  he 
balanced  it  on  his  hand, 
on  his  arm,  on  his 
thumb,  on  his  fore- 
head, and  finally  in  his 
mouth,  after  which  he 
tossed  the  plate  up, 
threw  the  pole  aside, 
and  caught  it  as  it  came 
down.  The  old  man- 
ager standing  by  re- 
ceived the  pole,  but  as 
he  saw  the  plate  tossed 
up,  he  fell  flat  upon  the 
earth,  screaming  lest 
the  plate  be  broken. 

This  same  performer 
set  a bowl  whirling  on 
the  end  of  a chop-stick. 

Then  tossing  the  bowl 
up  he  caught  it  inverted 
on  the  chop-stick,  and 
made  it  whirl  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  In  this 


150 


JUVENILE  JUGGLING 


condition  he  tossed  it  up  ten,  then  fifteen,  then  twenty  or 
more  feet  into  the  air  catching  it  on  the  chop-stick  as  it 
came  down. 

He  then  changed  the  process.  He  tossed  the  bowl  a foot 
high,  and  struck  it  with  the  other  chop-stick  one,  two,  three, 
four  or  five  times  before  it  came  down,  and  this  he  did  so 
rapidly  and  regularly  as  to  make  it  sound  almost  like 
music.  There  is  a record  of  one  of  the  ancient  poets  who 
was  able  to  play  a tune  with  his  bowl  and  chop-sticks 
after  having  finished  his  meal.  He  may  have  done  it  in 
this  way. 

This  trick  seemed  a very  difficult  performance.  It  excited 
the  children,  and  some  of  the  older  persons  clapped  their 
hands  and  exclaimed,  “ Very  good,  very  good.”  But  when 
he  tossed  it  only  a foot  high  and  let  go  the  chop-stick,  mak- 
ing it  change  ends,  and  catching  the  bowl,  they  were  ready 
for  a general  applause.  In  striking  the  bowl  and  thus  ma- 
nipulating his  chop-sticks,  his  hands  moved  almost  as 
rapidly  as  those  of  an  expert  pianist. 

“ Can  you  toss  the  knives  ? ” piped  up  one  of  the  children 
who  had  seen  a juggler  perform  this  difficult  feat. 

The  man  picked  up  two  large  knives  about  a foot  long 
and  began  tossing  them  with  one  hand.  While  this  was 
going  on  a third  knife  was  handed  him  and  he  kept  them 
going  with  both  hands.  At  times  he  threw  them  under  his 
leg  or  behind  his  back,  and  at  other  times  pitched  them  up 
twenty  feet  high,  whirling  them  as  rapidly  as  possible  and 
catching  them  by  the  handles  as  they  came  down. 

While  doing  this  he  passed  one  of  the  knives  to  the  at- 

151 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


tendant  who  gave  him  a bowl,  and  he  kept  the  bowl  and 
two  knives  going.  Then  he  gave  the  attendant  another 
knife  and  received  a ball,  and  the  knife,  the  ball  and  the 
bowl  together,  the  ball  and  bowl  at  times  moving  as  though 
the  former  were  glued  to  the  bottom  of  the  latter. 

These  were  not  all  the  tricks  he  could  perform  but  they 
were  all  he  would  perform  in  addition  to  his  bear  show  for 
twelve  cents — for  this  was  the  man  with  the  bear — so  the 
children  allowed  him  to  go. 

Some  weeks  later  they 
called  in  a different  bear 
show.  This  bear  was 
larger  and  a better  per- 
former, but  his  tricks 
were  about  the  same. 

The  juggler  in  addition 
to  doing  all  we  have 
already  described  per- 
formed also  the  follow- 
ing tricks. 

He  first  put  one  end 
of  an  iron  rod  fifteen 
inches  long  in  his  mouth. 
On  this  he  placed  a small 
revolving  frame  three  by 
six  inches.  He  set  a 
bowl  whirling  on  the 
end  of  a bamboo  splint 
fifteen  inches  long,  the 


152 


JUVENILE  JUGGLING 


other  end  of  which  he  rested  on  one  side  of  the  frame, 
balancing  the  whole  in  his  mouth. 

While  the  bowl  continued  whirling,  he  took  the  frame  off 
the  rod,  stuck  the  bamboo  in  a hole  in  the  frame  an  inch 
from  the  end,  resting  the  other  end  of  the  frame  on  the  rod, 
brought  the  bowl  over  so  as  to  obtain  a centre  of  gravity 
and  thus  balanced  it. 

He  took  two  small  tridents  a foot  or  more  in  length,  put 
the  end  of  the  handle  of  one  in  his  mouth,  set  the  bowl 
whirling  on  the  end  of  the  handle  of  the  other,  rested  the 
middle  prong  of  one  on  the  middle  prong  of  the  other  and 
let  it  whirl  with  the  bowl.  Afterwards  he  set  the  prong  of 
the  whirling  trident  on  the  edge  of  the  other  and  let  it 
whirl. 

He  took  two  long  curved  boar’s  teeth  which  were  fast- 
ened on  the  ends  of  two  sticks,  one  a foot  long  the  other  six 
inches.  The  one  he  held  in  his  mouth,  the  other  having  a hole 
diagonally  through  the  stick,  he  inserted  a chop-stick  making 
an  angle  of  seventy  degrees.  He  set  the  bowl  whirling 
on  the  end  of  the  chop-stick,  rested  one  tooth  on  the  other, 
in  the  indentation  and  they  whirled  like  a brace  and  bit. 

Finally  he  took  a spiral  wire  having  a straight  point  on 
each  end.  This  he  called  a dead  dragon.  He  set  the  bowl 
whirling  on  one  end,  placing  the  other  on  the  small  frame 
already  referred  to.  As  the  spiral  wire  began  to  turn  as 
though  boring,  he  called  it  a living  dragon.  These  feats  of 
balancing  excited  much  wonder  and  merriment  on  the  part 
of  the  children. 

The  juggler  then  took  an  iron  trident  with  a handle  four 

153 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


and  a half  feet  long 
and  an  inch  and  a 
half  thick,  and, 
pitching  it  up  into 
the  air,  caught  it  on 
his  right  arm  as  it 
came  down.  He 
allowed  it  to  roll 
down  his  right 
arm,  across  his 
back,  and  along  his 
left  arm,  and  as  he 
turned  his  body  he 
kept  the  trident 
rolling  around 
crossing  his  back 
and  breast  and  giv- 
ing it  a new  im- 
petus with  each 
arm.  The  trident 
had  on  it  two  cymbal-shaped  iron  plates  which  kept  up  a 
constant  rattling. 

This  showman  had  with  him  three  boy  acrobats  whose 
skill  he  proceeded  to  show. 

“ Pitch  the  balls,”  he  said. 

The  largest  of  the  three  boys  fastened  a cushioned  band, 

on  which  was  a leather  cup,  around  his  head,  the  cup  being 

on  his  forehead  just  between  his  eyes. 

He  took  two  wooden  balls,  two  and  a half  inches  in 

154 


JUVENILE  JUGGLING 


diameter,  tossed  them  in  the  air  twenty  feet  high,  catching 
them  in  the  cup  as  they  came  down.  The  shape  of  the 
cup  was  such  as  to  hold  the  balls  by  suction  when  they 
fell.  He  never  once  missed.  This  is  the  most  dangerous 

looking  of  all 
the  tricks  1 have 
seen  jugglers 
perform. 

“Shooting 
stars,”  said  the 
showman. 

The  boy 
tossed  aside  his 
cup  and  balls 
and  took  a 
string  six  feet 
long,  on  the 
two  ends  of 
which  were 
fastened  wood- 
en balls  two 
and  a half 
inches  in  diam- 
eter. He  set 
the  balls  whirl- 
ing in  opposite 
directions  until 
they  moved  so 
rapidly  as  to 


155 


♦ . 

THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


stretch  the  string,  which  he  then  held  in  the  middle  with 
finger  and  thumb  and  by  a simple  motion  of  the  hand  kept 
the  balls  whirling. 

He  was  an  expert,  and  changed  the  swinging  of  the  balls 
in  as  many  different  ways  as  an  expert  club-swinger  could 
his  clubs. 

“Boy  acrobats,”  called  out  the  manager,  as  the  manipu- 
lator of  the  “shooting  stars”  bowed  himself  out  amid  the 
applause  of  the  children. 

The  two  smaller  boys  threw  off  their  coats,  hitched  up 
their  trousers — always  a part  of  the  performance  whether 
necessary  or  not — and  began  the  high  kick,  high  jump, 
handspring,  somersault,  wagon  wheel,  ending  with  hand- 
spring, and  bending  backwards  until  their  heads  touched 
the  ground. 

One  of  them  stood  on  two  benches  a foot  high,  put  a 
handkerchief  on  the  ground,  and  bending  backwards,  picked 
it  up  with  his  teeth. 

The  two  boys  then  clasped  each  other  around  the  waist, 
as  in  the  illustration,  and  each  threw  the  other  back  over  his 
head  a dozen  times  or  more.  . 

Exit  the  bear  show  with  the  boy  acrobats,  enter  the  old 
woman  juggler  with  her  husband  who  beats  the  gong. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  performances  1 have 
ever  seen  in  China,  perhaps  because  so  unexpected. 

The  old  woman  had  small,  bound  feet.  She  lay  flat  on  her 

back,  stuck  up  her  feet,  and  her  husband  put  a crock  a foot 

in  diameter  and  a foot  and  a half  deep  upon  them.  She  set 

it  rolling  on  her  feet  until  it  whirled  like  a cylinder.  She 

156 


JUVENILE  JUGGLING 


tossed  it  up  in  such  a way  as  to  have  it  light  bottom  side  up 
on  her  “ lillies”  Mn  which  position  she  kept  it  whirling. 
Tossing  it  once  more  it  came  down  on  the  side,  and  again 
tossing  it  she  caught  it  right*  side  up  on  her  small  feet, 
keeping  it  whirling  all  the  time. 

My  surprise  was  so  great  that  I gave  the  old  woman  ten 
cents  for  performing  this  single  trick. 

The  tricks  of  sleight-of-hand  performers  are  well-nigh 
without  number.  Some  of  them  are  easily  understood, — 
surprising,  however,  to  children — and  often  interesting  to 
grown  people,  while  others  are  very  clever  and  not  so  easily 
understood. 

Instead  of  the  hat  from  which  innumerable  small  packages 
are  taken,  the  Chinese  magician  had  two  hollow  cylinders, 
which  exactly  fit  into  each  other,  that  he  took  out  of  a box 

1 Small  feet  of  the  Chinese  woman. 

157 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


and  placed  upon  a cylindrical  chest,  and  from  these  two 
cylinders — each  of  which  he  repeatedly  showed  us  as  being 
without  top  or  bottom  and  empty  — he  took  a dinner  of 
a dozen  courses. 

He  called  upon  the  baker  to  bring  bread,  the  grocer  to 
bring  vegetables,  and  after  each  call  he  took  out  of  the 
cylinders  the  thing  called  for.  He  finally  called  the  wine 
shop  to  bring  wine,  and  removing  both  cylinders,  he  ex- 
posed to  the  surprised  children  a large  crock  of  wine. 

As  he  brought  out  dish  after  dish,  the  children  looked  in 
open-mouthed  wonder,  and  asked  papa,  mama  or  nurse, 
where  he  got  them  all,  for  they  evidently  were  not  in  the 
cylinders.  But  papa  saw  him  all  the  time  manipulating  the 
crock  in  the  cylinder  which  he  did  not  show,  and  he  knew 
that  all  these  things  were  taken  from  and  then  returned  to 
this  crock,  while  instead  of  being  full  of  wine,  he  had  only 


JUVENILE  JUGGLING 


a cup  of  wine  in  a false  lid  which  exactly  fitted  the  mouth 
of  the  crock,  and  made  it  seem  full. 

When  he  had  put  away  his  crock  and  cylinders,  he  pro- 
duced what  seemed  to  be  two  empty  cups. 

He  presented  them  to  us  to  show  that  they  were  empty, 
then  putting  them  mouth  to  mouth,  and  placing  them  on 
the  ground,  he  left  them  a moment,  when  with  a “presto 
change,”  and  a wave  of  the  hand,  he  removed  the  top  cup 
and  revealed  to  the  astonished  children  and  some  of  the 
children  of  a larger  growth,  a cup  full  of  water  with  two  or 
three  little  fish  or  frogs  therein. 

On  inquiry  I was  told  that  he  had  the  under  cup  covered 
with  a thin  film  of  water-colored  material,  and  that  as  he 
removed  the  top  cup  he  removed  also  the  film  which  left  the 
fish  or  frogs  exposed  to  view. 

This  same  juggler  performed  many  tricks  of  producing 
great  dishes  of  water  from  under  his  garments,  the  mere 
enumeration  of  which,  might  prove  to  be  tiresome. 

I was  walking  along  the  street  one  day  near  the  mouth  of 
Filial  Piety  Lane  where  a large  company  of  men  and  chil- 
dren were  watching  a juggler,  and  from  the  trick  I thought 
it  worth  while  to  invite  him  in  for  the  amusement  of  the 
children.  He  promised  to  come  about  four  o’clock,  which 
he  did. 

He  first  proceeded  to  eat  a hat  full  of  yellow  paper,  after 
which,  with  a gag  and  a little  puff,  he  pulled  from  his  mouth 
a tube  of  paper  of  the  same  color  five  or  six  yards  long. 

This  was  very  skillfully  performed  and  for  a long  time  I 

was  not  able  to  understand  how  he  did  it.  But  after  awhile 

159 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


I discovered  that  with  the  last  mouthful  of  paper  he  put  in  a 
small  roll,  the  centre  of  which  he  started  by  puffing,  and 
this  he  pulled  out  in  a long  tube.  He  did  it  with  so  many 
groanings  and  with  such  pain  in  the  region  of  the  stomach, 
that,  attention  was  directed  either  to  his  stomach  or  the  roll, 
and  taken  away  from  his  mouth. 

“I  shall  eat  these  needles, ” said  he,  as  he  held  up  half  a 
dozen  needles,  “and  then  eat  this  thread,  after  which  I shall 
reproduce  them.” 

He  did  so.  He  grated  his  teeth  together  causing  a sound 
much  like  that  of  breaking  needles.  He  pretended  to  swal- 
low them,  working  his  tongue  back  and  forth  in  his  tightly 
closed  mouth,  after  which  he  drew  forth  the  thread  on 
which  all  the  needles  were  strung. 

He  had  a number  of  small  white  bone  needles  which  he 
stuck  into  his  nose  and  pulled  out  of  his  eyes,  or  which  he 
pushed  up  under  his  upper  lip  and  took  out  of  his  eyes  or 
vice  versa.  How  he  performed  the  above  trick  I was  not 
able  to  discover.  He  seemed  to  put  them  through  the  tear 
duct,  but  whether  he  did  or  not  1 cannot  say.  How  he  got 
them  from  his  mouth  to  his  eyes  unless  he  had  punctured  a 
passage  beneath  the  skin,  is  still  to  me  a mystery. 

His  last  trick  was  to  swallow  a sword  fifteen  inches  long. 
The  sword  was  straight  with  a round  point  and  dull  edges. 
There  was  no  deception  about  this.  He  was  an  old  man 
and  his  front,  upper  teeth  were  badly  worn  away  by  the 
constant  rasping  of  the  not  over-smooth  sword.  He  simply 
put  it  in  his  mouth,  threw  back  his  head  and  stuck  it  down 
his  throat  to  his  stomach. 


160 


“HERE  COMES  THE  RICE-MAN.” 


A SAD  OLD  COW 


STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 

One  hot  summer  afternoon  as  I lay  in  the  hammock  trying 
to  take  a nap  after  a hard  forenoon’s  work  and  a hearty 
lunch,  I heard  the  same  old  nurse  who  had  told  me  my  first 
Chinese  Mother  Goose  Rhymes,  telling  the  following  story 
to  the  same  little  boy  to  whom  she  had  repeated  the  “ Mouse 
and  the  Candlestick.” 

She  told  him  that  the  Chinese  call  the  Milky  Way  the 
Heavenly  River,  and  that  the  Spinning  Girl  referred  to  in  the 
story  is  none  other  than  the  beautiful  big  star  in  Lyra  which 
we  call  Vega,  while  the  Cow-herd  is  Altair  in  Aquila. 

The  Heavenly  River,  with  the  People  who  Dwell 

Thereon. 

Once  upon  a time  there  dwelt  a beautiful  maiden  in  a 

quiet  little  village  on  the  shore  of  the  Heavenly  River. 

163 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Her  name  was  Vega,  but  the  people  of  China  have  always 
called  her  the  Spinning  Maiden,  because  of  her  faithfulness 
to  her  work,  for  though  days,  and  months,  and  years  passed 
away,  she  never  left  her  loom. 

Her  diligence  so  moved  the  heart  of  her  grandfather,  the 
King  of  Heaven,  that  he  determined  to  give  her  a vacation, 
which  she  at  once  decided  to  spend  upon  the  earth. 

In  a village  near  where  the  maiden  dwelt  there  was  a 
young  man  named  Altair,  whom  the  Chinese  call  the  Cow- 
herd. 

Now  the  Cow-herd  was  in  love  with  the  Spinning  Girl,  but 
she  was  always  so  intent  upon  her  work  as  never  to  give 
him  an  opportunity  to  confess  his  affection,  but  now  he  de- 
termined to  follow  her  to  earth,  and,  if  possible,  win  her  for 
his  bride. 

He  followed  her  through  the  green  fields  and  shady 
groves,  but  never  dared  approach  her  or  tell  her  of  his  love. 

At  last,  however,  the  time  came.  He  discovered  her 
bathing  in  a limpid  stream,  the  banks  of  which  were  car- 
peted with  flowers,  while  myriad  boughs  of  blossoming 
peach  and  cherry  trees  hid  her  from  all  the  world  but  him. 

He  secretly  crept  near  and  stole  away  and  hid  her  gar- 
ments made  of  silken  gauze  and  finely  woven  linen,  making 
it  alike  impossible  for  her  to  resist  his  suit  or  to  return  to  her 
celestial  home. 

She  yielded  to  the  Cow-herd -and  soon  became  his  wife, 
and  as  the  years  passed  by  a boy  and  girl  were  born  to  them, 
littie  star  children,  twins,  such  as  are  seen  near  by  the  Spin- 
ning Girl  in  her  heavenly  home  to-day. 

164 


STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 


One  day  she  went  to  her  husband,  and,  bowing  low,  re- 
quested that  he  return  the  clothes  he  had  hid  away,  and  he, 
thinking  the  presence  of  the  children  a sufficient  guaranty 
for  her  remaining  in  his  home,  told  her  he  had  put  them  in  an 
old,  dry  well  hard  by  the  place  where  she  had  been  bathing. 

No  sooner  had  she  secured  them  than  the  aspect  of  their 
home  was  changed.  The  Cow-herd’s  wife  once  more  be- 
came the  Spinning  Girl  and  hied  her  to  her  heavenly  abode. 

It  so  happened  that  her  husband  had  a piece  of  cow-skin 
which  gave  him  power  over  earth  and  air.  Snatching  up 
this,  with  his  ox-goad,  he  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
fleeing  wife. 

Arriving  at  their  heavenly  home  the  happy  couple  sought 
the  joys  of  married  life.  The  Spinning  Girl  gave  up  her  loom, 
and  the  Cow-herd  his  cattle,  until  their  negligence  annoyed 
the  King  of  Heaven,  and  he  repented  having  let  her  leave 
her  loom.  He  called  upon  the  Western  Royal  Mother  for 
advice.  After  consultation  they  decided  that  the  two  should 
be  separated.  The  Queen,  with  a single  stroke  of  her  great 
silver  hairpin,  drew  a line  across  the  heavens,  and  from 
that  time  the  Heavenly  River  has  flowed  between  them,  and 
they  are  destined  to  dwell  forever  on  the  two  sides  of  the 
Milky  Way.  - 

What  had  seemed  to  the  youthful  pair  the  promise  of  per- 
petual joy,  became  a condition  of  unending  grief.  They 
were  on  the  two  sides  of  a bridgeless  river,  in  plain  sight  of 
each  other,  but  forever  debarred  from  hearing  the  voice  or 
pressing  the  land  of  the  one  beloved,  doomed  to  perpetual 

toil  unlit  by  any  ray  of  joy  or  hope. 

165 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


Their  evident  affection  and  unhappy  condition  moved  the 
heart  of  His  Majesty,  and  caused  him  to  allow  them  to  visit 
each  other  once  with  each  revolving  year, — on  the  seventh 
day  of  the  seventh  moon.  But  permission  was  not  enough, 
for  as  they  looked  upon  the  foaming  waters  of  the  turbulent 
stream,  they  could  but  weep  for  their  wretched  condition, 
for  no  bridge  united  its  two  banks,  nor  was  it  allowed  that 
any  structure  be  built  which  would  mar  the  contour  of  the 
shining  dome. 

In  their  helplessness  the  magpies  came  to  their  rescue.  At 
early  morn  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  seventh  moon,  these 
beautiful  birds  gathered  in  great  flocks  about  the  home  of 
the  maiden,  and  hovering  wing  to  wing  above  the  river, 
made  a bridge  across  which  her  dainty  feet  might  carry  her 
in  safety.  But  when  the  time  for  separation  came,  the  two 
wept  bitterly,  and  their  tears  falling  in  copious  showers  are 
the  cause  of  the  heavy  rains  which  fall  at  that  season  of  the 
year. 

From  time  immemorial  it  has  been  known  that  the  Yellow 
River  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a prolongation  of  the 
Milky  Way,  soiled  by  earthly  contact  and  contamination,  and 
that  the  homes  of  the  Spinning  Maiden  and  the  Cow-herd 
are  the  centres  of  two  of  the  numerous  villages  that  adorn 
its  banks.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  however,  that  in  an 
evil  and  skeptical  world  there  should  be  many  who  doubt 
these  facts. 

On  this  account,  and  to  forever  settle  the  dispute,  the 
great  traveller  and  explorer,  Chang  Ch’ien,  undertook  to  dis- 
cover the  source  of  the  Yellow  River.  He  first  transformed 

166 


STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 


the  trunk  of  a great 
tree  into  a boat, 
provided  himself 
with  the  necessities 
of  life  and  started 
on  his  journey. 

Days  passed  into 
weeks,  and  weeks 
became  months  as 
he  sailed  up  the 
murky  waters  of 
the  turbid  stream. 

But  the  farther  he 
went  the  clearer 
the  waters  became 
until  it  seemed  as  if 
they  were  flowing 
over  a bed  of  pure, 
white  limestone.  Village  after  village  was  passed  both  on 
his  right  hand  and  on  his  left,  and  many  were  the  strange 
sights  that  met  his  gaze.  The  fields  became  more  verdant, 
the  flowers  more  beautiful,  the  scenery  more  gorgeous,  and 
the  people  more  like  nymphs  and  fairies.  The  color  of  the 
clouds  and  the  atmosphere  was  of  a richer,  softer  hue;  while 
the  breezes  which  wafted  his  frail  bark  were  milder  and 
gentler  than  any  he  had  known  before. 

Despairing  at  last  of  reaching  the  source  he  stopped  at  a 

village  where  he  saw  a maiden  spinning  and  a young  man 

leading  an  ox  to  drink.  He  alighted  from  his  boat  and  in- 

167 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


quired  of  the  girl  the  name  of  the  place,  but  she,  without 
making  reply,  tossed  him  her  shuttle,  telling  him  to  return 
to  his  home  and  inquire  of  the  astrologer,  who  would  inform 
him  where  he  received  it,  if  he  but  told  him  when. 

He  returned  and  presented  the  shuttle  to  the  noted  as- 
trologer Chun  Ping,  informing  him  at  the  same  time  where, 
when  and  from  whom  he  had  received  it.  The  latter  con- 
sulted his  observations  and  calculations  and  discovered  that 
on  the  day  and  hour  when  the  shuttle  had  been  given  to 
the  traveller  he  had  observed  a wandering  star  enter  and 
leave  the  villages  of  the  Spinning  Girl  and  the  Cow-herd, 
which  proved  beyond  doubt  that  the  Yellow  River  is  the 
prolongation  of  the  Milky  Way,  while  the  points  of  light 
which  we  call  stars,  are  the  inhabitants  of  Heaven  pursuing 
callings  similar  to  our  own. 

Chang  Ch’ien  made  another  important  discovery,  namely, 
that  the  celestials,  understanding  the  seasons  better  than 
we,  turn  the  shining  dome  in  such  a way  as  to  make  the 
Heavenly  River  indicate  the  seasons  of  the  year,  and  so  the 
children  sing: 

Whene’er  the  Milky  Way  you  spy, 

Diagonal  across  the  sky, 

The  egg-plant  you  may  safely  eat, 

And  all  your  friends  to  melons  treat. 

But  when  divided  towards  the  west, 

You’ll  need  your  trousers  and  your  vest, 

When  like  a horn  you  see  it  float. 

You’ll  need  your  trousers  and  your  coat. 

168 


STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 


It  is  unnecessary  to  state  that  I did  not  go  to  sleep  while 
the  old  nurse  was  telling  the  story  of  the  Heavenly  River. 
The  child  sat  on  his  little  stool,  his  elbows  on  his  knees 
and  his  chin  resting  in  his  hands,  listening  with  open  lips 
and  eyes  sparkling  with  interest.  To  the  old  nurse  it  was 
real.  The  spinning  girl  and  the  cow-herd  were  living  per- 
sons. The.  flowers  bloomed, — we  could  almost  smell  their 
odor, — and  the  gentle  breezes  seemed  to  fan  our  cheeks. 
She  had  told  the  story  so  often  that  she  believed  it,  and  she 
imparted  to  us  her  own  interest. 

“Nurse,”  said  the  child,  “tell  me  about 

“‘The  Man  in  the  Moon.’” 

“The  man  in  the  moon,”  said  the  old  nurse,  “is  called 
Wu  Kang.  He  was  skilled  in  all  the  arts  of  the  genii,  and 
was  accustomed  to  play  before  them  whenever  opportu- 
nity offered  or  occasion  required. 

“Once  it  turned  out  that  his  performances  were  displeas- 
ing to  the  spirits,  and  for  this  offense  he  was  banished 
to  the  moon,  and  condemned  to  perpetual  toil  in  hewing 
down  the  cinnamon  trees  which  grow  there  in  great  abund- 
ance. At  every  blow  of  the  axe  he  made  an  incision,  but 
only  to  see  it  close  up  when  the  axe  was  withdrawn. 

“ He  had  another  duty,  however,  a duty  which  was  at 
times  irksome,  but  one  which  on  the  whole  was  more 
pleasant  than  any  that  falls  to  men  or  spirits,— the  duty 
indicated  by  the  proverb  that  ‘ matches  are  made  in  the 
moon.’ 

“It  was  his  lot  to  bind  together  the  feet  of  all  those  on 

169 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


earth  who  are  destined  to  a betrothal,  and  in  the  perform- 
ance of  this  duty,  he  was  often  compelled  to  return  to 
earth.  When  doing  so  he  came  as  an  old  man  with  long 
white  hair  and  beard,  with  a book  in  his  hand  in  which  he 
had  written  the  matrimonial  alliances  of  all  mankind.  He 
also  carried  a wallet  which  contains  a ball  of  invisible  cord 
with  which  he  ties  together  the  feet  of  all  those  who  are 
destined  to  be  man  and  wife,  and  the  destinies  which  he 
announces  it  is  impossible  to  avoid. 

“On  one  occasion  he  came  to  the  town  of  Sung,  and 
while  sitting  in  the  moonlight,  turning  over  the  leaves  of 
his  book  of  destinies,  he  was  asked  by  Wei  Ku,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  passing,  who  was  destined  to  become  his 
bride.  The  old  man  consulted  his  records,  as  he  answered: 
‘Your  wife  is  the  daughter  of  an  old  woman  named  Ch’en 
who  sells  vegetables  in  yonder  shop.’ 

“Having  heard  this,  Wei  Ku  went  the  next  day  to  look 
about  him  and  if  possible  to  get  a glimpse  of  the  one  to 
whom  the  old  man  referred,  but  he  discovered  that  the 
only  child  the  old  woman  had  was  an  ill-favored  one  of 
two  years  which  she  carried  in  her  arms.  He  hired  an 
assassin  to  murder  the  infant,  but  the  blow  was  badly 
aimed  and  left  only  a scar  on  the  child’s  eyebrow. 

“Fourteen  years  afterwards,  Wei  Ku  married  a beautiful 
maiden  of  sixteen  whose  only  defect  was  a scar  above  the 
eye,  and  on  inquiries  he  discovered  that  she  was  the  one 
foretold  by  the  Old  Man  of  the  Moon,  and  he  recalled  the 
proverb  that  ‘ Matches  are  made  in  heaven,  and  the  bond  of 
fate  is  sealed  in  the  moon.’  ” 


170 


STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 


“Nurse,  tell  me  about  the  land  of  the  big  people,”  where- 
upon the  nurse  told  him  of 

The  Land  of  Giants. 

“ There  was  in  ancient  times  a country  east  of  Korea  which 
was  called  the  land  of  the  giants.  It  was  celebrated  for  its 
length  rather  than  for  its  width,  being  bounded  on  all  sides 
by  great  mountain  ranges,  the  like  of  which  cannot  be  found 
in  other  countries.  It  extends  for  thousands  of  miles  along 
the  deep  passes  between  the  mountains,  at  the  entrance  to 
which  there  are  great  iron  gates,  easily  closed,  but  very 
difficult  to  open. 

“Many  armies  have  made  war  upon  the  giants,  among 
which  none  have  been  more  celebrated  than  those  of  Korea, 
which  embraces  in  its  standing  army  alone  many  thousands 
of  men,  but  thus  far  they  have  never  been  conquered. 

“ Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at,  for  besides  their  great  iron 
gates,  and  numerous  fortifications,  the  men  are  thirty  feet 
tall  according  to  our  measurement,  have  teeth  like  a saw, 
hooked  claws,  and  bodies  covered  with  long  black  hair. 

“They  live  upon  the  flesh  of  fowls  and  wild  beasts,  which 
are  found  in  abundance  in  the  mountain  fastnesses,  but  they 
do  not  cook  their  food.  They  are  very  fond  of  human 
flesh,  but  they  confine  themselves  to  the  flesh  of  enemies 
slain  in  battle,  and  do  not  eat  the  flesh  of  their  own  people, 
even  though  they  be  hostile,  as  this  is  contrary  to  the  law 
of  the  land. 

“ Their  women  are  as  large  and  fierce  as  the  men,  but  their 

duties  are  confined  to  the  preparation  of  extra  clothing  for 

171 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


winter  wear,  for  although  they  are  covered  with  hair  it  is 
insufficient  to  protect  them  from  the  winter’s  cold.” 

While  the  old  nurse  was  relating  the  tale  of  the  giants  I 
could  not  but  wonder  whether  there  was  not  some  relation 
between  that  and  the  Brobdingnagians  I had  read  about  in 
my  youth.  But  1 was  not  given  much  time  to  think.  This 
seemed  to  have  been  a story  day,  for  the  nurse  had  hardly 
finished  the  tale  till  the  child  said: 

“Now  tell  me  about  the  country  of  the  little  people,” 
and  she  related  the  story  of 

The  Land  of  Dwarfs. 

“ The  country  of  the  little  people  is  in  the  west,  where 
the  sun  goes  down. 

“Once  upon  a time  a company  of  Persian  merchants  were 
making  a journey,  when  by  a strange  mishap  they  lost  their 
way  and  came  to  the  land  of  the  little  people.  They  were 
at  first  surprised,  and  then  delighted,  for  they  discovered 
that  the  country  was  not  only  densely  populated  with  these 
little  people,  who  were  not  more  than  three  feet  high,  but 
that  it  was  rich  in  all  kinds  of  precious  stones  and  rare  and 
valuable  materials. 

“They  discovered  also  that  during  the  season  of  planting 

and  harvesting,  they  were  in  constant  terror  lest  the  great 

multitude  of  cranes,  which  are  without  number  in  that 

region,  should  swoop  down  upon  them  and  eat  both  them 

and  their  crops.  They  soon  learned,  however,  that  the  little 

people  were  under  the  protecting  care  of  the  Roman  Empire, 

whose  interest  in  them  was  great,  and  her  arm  mighty,  and 

172 


STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 


they  were  thus  guarded  from  all  evil  influences  as  well  as 
from  all  danger.  Nor  was  this  a wholly  unselfish  interest 
bn  the  part  of  the  Roman  power,  for  the  little  people 
repaid  her  with  rich  presents  of  the  most  costly  gems, — 
pearls,  diamonds,  rubies  and  other  precious  stones.” 

I need  not  say  I was  beginning  to  be  surprised  at  the 
number  of  tales  the  old  woman  told  which  corresponded 
to  those  I had  been  accustomed  to  read  and  hear  in  my 
childhood,  nor  was  my  surprise  lessened  when  at  his  request 
she  told  him  how 

The  Sun  Went  Backward. 

“ Once  upon  a time  Lu  Yang-kung  was  engaged  in  battle 
with  Han  Kou-nan,  and  they  continued  fighting  until  nearly 
sundown.  The  former  was  getting  the  better  of  the  battle, 
but  feared  he  would  lose  it  unless  they  fought  to  a finish 
before  the  close  of  day.  The  sun  was  near  the  horizon,  and 
the  battle  was  not  yet  ended,  and  the  former,  pointing  his 
lance  at  the  King  of  Day  caused  him  to  move  backward  ten 
miles  in  his  course.” 

“ When  did  that  happen  ? ” inquired  the  child. 

“ The  Chinese  say  it  happened  about  three  thousand  years 
ago,”  replied  the  old  nurse. 

“ Now  tell  me  about  the  man  who  went  to  the  fire  star.” 

The  old  woman  hesitated  a moment  as  though  she  was 
trying  to  recall  something  and  then  told  him  the  story  of 

Mars,  the  God  of  War. 

“Once  upon  a time  there  was  a great  rebel  whose  name 

was  Ch’ih  Yu.  He  was  the  first  great  rebel  that  ever  lived 

173 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


in  China.  He  did  not  want  to  obey  the  chief  ruler,  and 
invented  for  himself  warlike  weapons,  thinking  that  in  this 
way  he  might  overthrow  the  government  and  place  himself 
upon  the  throne. 

“ He  had  eighty-one  brothers,  of  whom  he  was  the  leader. 
They  had  human  speech,  but  bodies  of  beasts,  foreheads  of 
iron,  and  fed  upon  the  dust  of  the  earth. 

“ When  the  time  for  the  battle  came,  he  called  upon  the 
Chief  of  the  Wind  and  the  Master  of  the  Rain  to  assist  him, 
and  there  arose  a great  tempest.  But  the  Chief  sent  the 
Daughter  of  Heaven  to  quell  the  storm,  and  then  seized  and 
slew  the  rebel.  His  spirit  ascended  to  the  Fire-Star  (Mars) 
— the  embodiment  of  which  he  was  while  upon  earth, — 
where  it  resides  and  influences  the  conduct  of  warfare  even 
to  the  present  time.” 

“Tell  me  the  story  of  the  man  who  went  to  the  moun- 
tain to  gather  fire-wood  and  did  not  come  home  for  such  a 
long  time.” 

The  old  nurse  began  a story  which  as  it  progressed  re- 
minded me  of 

Rip  Van  Winkle. 

“A  long  time  ago  there  lived  a man  named  Wang  Chih, 
which  in  our  language  means  ‘the  stuff  of  which  kings 
are  made.’  In  spite  of  his  name,  however,  he  was  only  a 
common  husbandman,  spending  his  summers  in  plowing, 
planting  and  harvesting,  and  his  winters  in  gathering  fertil- 
izers upon  the  highways,  and  fire-wood  in  the  mountains. 

“On  one  occasion  he  wandered  into  the  mountains  of 

174 


STORIES  TOLD  TO  CHILDREN 


Ch’ii  Chou,  his  axe  upon  his  shoulder,  hoping  to  find  more 
and  better  fire-wood  than  could  be  found  upon  his  own 
scanty  acres,  or  the  adjoining  plain.  While  in  the  moun- 
tains he  came  upon  a number  of  aged  men,  in  a beautiful 
mountain  grotto,  intently  engaged  in  a game  of  chess. 
Wang  was  a good  chess-player  himself,  and  for  the  time 
forgot  his  errand.  He  laid  down  his  axe,  stood  silently 
watching  them,  and  in  a very  few  moments  was  deeply 
interested  in  the  game. 

“It  was  while  he  was  thus  watching  them  that  one  of 
the  old  men,  without  looking  up  from  the  game,  gave  him 
what  seemed  to  be  a date  seed,  telling  him  at  the  same  time 
to  put  it  in  his  mouth.  He  did  so,  but  no  sooner  had  he 
tasted  it,  than  he  lost  all  consciousness  of  hunger  and  thirst, 
and  continued  to  stand  watching  the  players  and  the  prog- 
ress of  the  game,  thinking  nothing  of  the  flight  of  time. 

“At  last  one  of  the  old  men  said  to  him: 

“ ‘ You  have  been  here  a long  time,  ought  you  not  to  go 
home  ? ’ 

“This  aroused  him  from  his  reverie,  and  he  seemed  to 
awake  as  from  a dream,  his  interest  in  the  game  passed 
away,  and  he  attempted  to  pick  up  his  axe,  but  found  that 
it  was  covered  with  rust  and  the  handle  had  moulded  away. 
But  while  this  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  time  had 
passed,  he  felt  not  the  burden  of  years. 

“When  he  returned  to  the  plain,  and  to  what  had  for- 
merly been  his  home,  he  discovered  that  not  only  years  but 
centuries  had  passed  away  since  he  had  left  for  the  moun- 
tains, and  that  his  relatives  and  friends  had  all  crossed  to 

175 


THE  CHINESE  BOY  AND  GIRL 


the  ‘Yellow  Springs/  while  all  records  of  his  departure  had 
long  since  been  forgotten,  and  he  alone  remained  a relic  of 
the  past. 

“ He  wandered  up  and  down  inquiring  of  the  oldest 
people  of  all  the  villages,  but  could  discover  no  link  which 
bound  him  to  the  present. 

“ He  returned  to  the  mountain  grotto,  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  of  the  occult  principles  of  the  ‘Old  Philosopher’ 
until  the  material  elements  of  his  mortal  frame  were  gradu- 
ally evaporated  or  sublimated,  and  without  having  passed 
through  the  change  which  men  call  death,  he  became  an 
immortal  spirit  returning  whence  he  came.” 

Just  as  the  old  woman  finished  this  story,  my  teacher, 
who  always  took  a nap  after  lunch,  ascended  the  steps. 

“Ah,  the  story  of  Wang  Chih.” 

“Do  you  know  any  of  these  stories?”  I asked  him  as  I 
sat  down  beside  him. 

“All  children  learn  these  stories  in  their  youth,”  he  an- 
swered, and  then  as  if  fearing  I would  try  to  induce  him  to 
tell  them  to  me  he  continued,  “but  nurses  always  tell  these 
stories  better  than  any  one  else,  because  they  tell  them  so 
often  to  the  children,  for  whom  alone  they  were  made.” 


3 


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DATE  DUE 


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The  Chinese  boy  and  girl, 

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